What This Means Part 1
by doggypaw93
Summary: Lily, James, Sirius and Remus go on an adventure when they find an interesting book about a certain Harry Potter. Relationships, feelings, inner turmoil, and more surface as the truth about what's to come is finally told.
1. Chapter 1

**Note to readers: Right now I am in the process of editing this story. At the time that I decided to do this I had 9 chapters written with an author's note as chapter 10. My decision to edit this is slightly foolish because I can take a long time to update but I think it is necessary. Looking back on what I have written, my writing was simple and extremely exaggerated. I hope that after so many years I have improved. I will make a note at the beginning of each chapter if I have updated it yet until I get to the new chapters. So I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the majestic world of Harry Potter, but it lives on in my imagination and my heart.**

**Note: JK Rowling's work will be in bold and will be the actual books while my own work will be normal.**

**Note: The books I'm using and describing for this are the US versions, so things may be different including the cover and brief overview.**

Lily sighed in annoyance as she threw her unruly hair up in a bun. She welcomed the cool breeze on the back of her neck, but it did little to change her mood. Glancing around the library, she could not concentrate. The familiar silence and stillness that had always been conducive and perfect for studying had become stifling and oppressive in the past month since she had returned for her seventh and last year at Hogwarts. She quickly tapped her quill on the desk, hardly noticing what she was doing until her roommate Mary Macdonald glanced up from her essay.

"I'll just take that…" Mary said, with an understanding smile as she slipped the quill from Lily's fingers. "Take a break if it's too much, you've been working all day."

As Lily observed the splattering of ink she had made across the desk, she knew Mary had misunderstood her nervousness and restlessness. She could hardly understand herself why ever since returning to school her mind wandered far from the professors' lectures, and her schoolwork both in and out of the classroom had become a mechanical response that her body seemed to move through. Her life had become as scattered and broken as the ink that was smudged across the desk. She quickly cleaned it away with her wand, not wanting to get scolded by Madam Pince.

Deciding, a quick walk would help with her concentration she stood up and shrugged at Mary, who Lily could tell was almost finished with the essay that she herself had barely begun. As she walked through the rows of books she only grew more frustrated. This wasn't her. She was rarely nervous and never unfocused. But now, even with NEWTS slowly approaching, she could only focus on one thing—the war that was slowly building fire outside of Hogwarts, and how she had less than a year before she would be thrust out into the real world and away from the protection and safety that Hogwarts provided.

It didn't help that whenever she was around James Potter anymore her body was sent into a frenzy of butterflies, flushed cheeks, and a pounding heart. This was all in opposition to her mind which was screaming no. Lily had to constantly remind herself that she wasn't supposed to fall for James Potter. Not only was he incessantly annoying but after six years of resolutely shutting him down, her pride would be wounded if she had to admit she felt something for him.

Lily shook the thought out of her mind of being with James. She couldn't let something else distract her, she was in enough trouble as it was. If she did not find a way to focus soon there would be no way to salvage her grades. There was nothing more important at the moment than learning, if not for passing her NEWTS than for being able to live in the world independently and surviving in a place where being Muggle-born was frowned upon.

Lily decided to look for a book to help her with her charms essay. The essay should have been easy—just a quick review of cleaning spells that they had learned the previous year. But nothing was coming to mind. She groaned as she thought of all the other work she had to do

As she scanned the shelves one book in particular caught her eye, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone._ She tried to convince herself that the best thing to do was to just ignore it, but Lily had always been curious. Maybe this book would help clear up some of the mystery that surrounded James. As much as he seemed to throw himself at her every chance he got, Lily had never had to opportunity to get to know him.

She quickly grabbed her things, waved to Mary and was hurrying to the Gryffindor common room, where she hoped to find the boy in question. Just as she hoped, there he was, lounging on the couch. But one glance at who he was with put Lily in a foul mood.

While James constantly annoyed her, Sirius just pissed her off. James used to infuriate her but not anymore. She really wasn't sure when it happened but he wasn't as cocky. Maybe it had to do with having responsibility thrust on him as Head Boy or maybe that she had the chance to see him away from his friends and the majority or the student population while they were on patrol. Either way, James had matured. Sirius on the other hand… he was another matter.

Lily sat herself across from them sighing as she did. They both looked up and she was surprised to see them both working on homework.

"Hey Lily." James gave her his trademark grin that had once made her cringe in fury, but now only caused butterflies to fill her stomach.

"I'm surprised, I didn't think it was possible for the two of you to actually be productive." Lily tried to keep up her usually cold manner to the two, but felt like it was only half felt. The truth was, her insides felt like goo while talking to James.

"Well, you learn something new everyday," Sirius sneered. Ah yes, this was why Lily did not like him. He had become increasingly cold to her as she continued to reject James over the years. Lily admitted she could not blame him—she would do the same for her friends, but still it stung to have someone so thoroughly dislike you

"I suppose. So, what did Harry do?"

James and Sirius shared a look before turning to Lily. "Sorry?"

Lily held up the book. "You're relative Harry Potter. Why does he have a book?"

"Who's Harry?"

Lily just stared at James. "How should I know. You're the one who is related to him."

"But I don't have a relative named Harry!"

"Well this boy looks exactly like you and he shares the same last name. There's no way that he's not related to you."

Sirius grabbed the book from Lily's hands and began talking loudly before she could protest. "Are you that pathetic Evans?" he scoffed. "You had to make a pretend book to give you an excuse to talk to James."

Lily really could not stand Sirius. "If you look close enough, you'll notice that he looks like James, but he isn't actually James. And, I found this in the library." Lily was now standing with her arms folded across her chest, ready for a fight. Sirius shoved his own face into hers, but she refused to back down.

As the two of them began to bicker, neither realized that they were drawing attention from around the room, or that James had not joined. Instead, he was staring at the book, trying to remember if he had a relative named Harry, but none was coming to him.

All of a sudden James jumped in between the two bickering students and shoved Sirius on the couch. Turning away from his complaining friend, he instead addressed Lily. "Look, I can promise you I have no relative named Harry. I really have no idea who this is."

Lily looked into his face searching for the truth and was surprised what she found there. His eyes were kind, earnest and soft and they held the same curiosity that she herself felt. Looking away before she could embarrass herself she replied, "Fine." Even though she was staring at the floor, she could still sense the wide grin that emanated on his face.

Sirius had finally climbed back on his feet. He slung his arm around James and grinned at Lily. "I bet you just can't wait to read all about my boy here can you sweetheart."

There was a moment of silence between the three as Sirius smirked at Lily and she glared right back. James was not smiling anymore, not sure what would happen between the two. Suddenly Lily wrenched the book from James. "I'll be taking that, thank you," she snarled, still pissed at Sirius. And she turned and stalked to the portrait hole. She did not turn around until she was almost out of sight, "You boys better hurry up if you want to read this with me!"

Her words jolted them from their frozen states. "Go and find Remus and we'll meet you in the hidden room," whispered James.

Sirius saluted before turning and strutting up to their room.

James turned and followed Lily out to the hall. "Come on. We know the perfect place to read this away from prying ears." He grabbed her arm and started tugging her down the hall.

"James, where can we possibly go that no one will overhear us? The great hall? The library? I don't think those places will work."

James smiled back at her and Lily felt her heart flutter. "I'll tell you when we get there."

As they walked the silence between them was stifling. Neither was sure what to say until James spoke. "Sorry about Sirius. He shouldn't talk to you that way."

Lily glanced at James. "You don't need to apologize for him. He can do it himself."

"I know he's not the nicest…" Lily scoffed, "but he's my best friend and a good guy."

"You could say something to him you know."

James laughed. "Yeah, sure, because he would actually listen to me."

Lily stopped walking, annoyed that James did not seem to be bothered by the fact that she did not get along with Sirius. "I don't get along with my sister, I'm pretty sure she hates me. But I still listen to what she says." Lily shrugged, fighting off tears, "She's still my sister. And the two of you are more than just best friends, you're brothers."

"Just forget about it Lily."

Lily was hurt, but she didn't want to admit that to James. "Well fine! It's not like I wanted to be friends with him anyways." And she strode past him, but she had no idea where they were going.

"Why do you always do that?" demanded James from behind her. "One second we're getting along fine and I think, hey, I think we're friends. And then you go and brush me off and become really rude."

Lily laughed shrewdly. "We're not friends Potter. If we were, you would care that Black hates me. But you can't even be bothered to say something. Now… where are you taking me?"

Lily followed James and could feel her temper rising, especially once he stopped in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Lily knew there was nothing around here, and could not figure out why he had dragged her all this way for nothing. "Is this some sort of joke? What are we doing here? You didn't make a fake book to get me alone with you right?" Lily reflected that Sirius had just accused her of the same thing, which did not help improve her mood.

"If there's no purpose for us to be here, I'll just leave…" but she was stunned into silence when a door appeared out of nowhere. "How…"

"Just come on, it's perfectly safe." James dragged her into the room.

"This… this is the Room of Requirement." Lily noticed a hint of pride in James' voice. He seemed to forget their spat just moments before, at least for now. On the other hand, she could not forget quite so easily. She knew she had embarrassed herself and said a lot of things she should not have said, but she refused to take them back.

"It provides your every need."

Lily jumped at the sound and turned to finding a smirking Black and smiling Remus.

"When did you guys get here?"

"That is our little secret," said a smirking James, "now come on! I want to read about my relative that I don't know about!"

The four of them sat down in the soft red plush chairs that appeared as James was speaking and Lily set the book on the table so all four of them could take a look.

"You know, this kid really does look a lot like you James." Remus was looking at the book in fascination.

"Really? I thought he looked a bit scrawny." Sirius laughed as James punched him on the arm.

"Maybe we should read the brief overview? It'll give us a good idea of what the book is about," Remus suggested. He was watching his friend amusedly.

"Good idea." Lily picked up the book and flipped to the back.

**Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground.**

"Poor kid," supplied James with Sirius nodding his head in agreement.

**He knows no spells, has never helped to hatch a dragon, and has never worn a cloak of invisibility.**

"Besides casting spells, most people haven't done the other two," Lily pointed out. She missed the glance the three boys shared together, thinking about the cloak that was sitting in the room with them.

**All he knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley—a great big swollen spoiled bully.**

Remus, who was sitting next to Lily was the only one who noticed the startled look she wore as she read about the Dursleys.

**Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years.**

"No Birthdays! That seems miserable…" said James.

Sirius shrugged. "Are you sure you're related to him Prongs? This sounds more like my family."

"Has the fact that he sleeps in a closet slipped your brain Potter?" Lily glared at James. She was still angry with both of them, but she did notice how Sirius seemed down once he mentioned his family. It was no secret that Sirius did not get along with his family, his younger brother and all his cousins were in Slytherin. No one but the Mauraders knew the exact circumstances. Sirius never talked about them.

**But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to an incredible place that Harry—and anyone who reads about him—will find unforgettable.**

"It's to Hogwarts of course," James stated.

"But it sounds as if Harry has no idea what Hogwarts is. Why wouldn't he know if he's your relative James?" asked Remus. James shrugged,

**For it's there that he finds not only friends,**

"No friends, sounds lonely."

"Are you lonely sweetheart? I could help you with that," said a smirking Sirius. He was attempting to cover up his slip about his family. He was not about to tell all of his secrets to Lily, no matter how much James liked her.

"Like I would ever degrade myself so much to be with you Black." They scowled at each other while James and Remus shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Back to reading?" Remus suggested when he finally could not stand sitting in silence any longer.

**aerial sports,**

"Quidditch really is the best sport there is…" sighed James. "I mean, there's so much speed and agility, and it's so dangerous—"

"Potter, I really don't want to here you ramble on and on about Quidditch. Not everyone is obsessed with it like you are." Lily knew she should be nicer to all of them, but at the moment she could not help but be annoyed.

**and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him…if Harry can survive the encounter.**

"Well that doesn't sound safe…" said Remus.

"I wonder what happens to him? Can I read next?" volunteered James. He was much more curious than he was letting on to learn who Harry was.

"Check the copyright date." Lily was not sure why the copyright date was so important, but it had suddenly come to her that it might be important to know.

"No way!" James was shocked, which showed across his face as he looked at the other three in the room. "This book was copyrighted in 1997, it's from the future!"

"Maybe Harry is your child James," suggested Remus. Lily felt a pang as she thought about that. She refused to admit it, but she did not want to think of James having children with someone else in the future.

Sirius laughed, the idea of James having children was absolutely absurd. "How about you read and we'll find out."

**Well… this is slightly better than what I had originally written. I hope you enjoyed. I changed a few things, such as the character's personalities as well as a few major details later on. Which means, that if you've read this and continue reading before I've updated all the chapters it might get confusing. So as a reminder: I will mention in the beginning if I have revised the chapter (or if I'm finally working on new chapters). I hope you enjoyed!**


	2. The Boy Who Lives

**So, how do you guys like it so far? I just want to say that this is going to be different then most stories like this. I'm going to have another plot line in here involving the characters daily lives and such and how what they read affects them. Just thought I would say that. So, on to chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: I receive no profit from this what so ever, so I don't think I can claim to be JK Rowling.**

_Previous Chapter:_

"_NO WAY!" The book landed on the floor with a loud thunk. The other three teenagers in the room looked at James in shock at his reaction. "This can't be possible! This book was copyrighted in 1997! IT'S FROM THE FURTURE!"_

"_Okay, now I really want to read this book!" Sirius picked it up and threw it at James._

"_First chapter, __The Boy Who Lived."_

"Wow, great chapter title. A boy is alive, so how does that leave us? Dead?" Sirius couldn't help joking.

"No Sirius, I think it just means you're dead." Lily smiled innocently at him. "Let's just read!"

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. **

"Who takes pride in that? That's boring!" Sirius exclaimed.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"Like I said, BORING!"

"Sirius, if you keep interrupting every two seconds we won't get anywhere!" Lily yelled.

"But I didn't know we were going anywhere." Two pillows flew at him from both Lily and Remus.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. **

"Nice description. Lovely," James said and then snickered as he caught eyes with Sirius.

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. **

Lily thought both these descriptions fit her sister and her sister's fiancé very well, but was too frightened at the thought that they were to say anything aloud.

"What a charming lady!" Sirius said sarcastically.

"Sounds better than your mom Sirius." James grinned until he saw his friends face fall. "Sorry man, that was low."

"You're probably right though," Sirius mumbled, just loud enough for them to hear.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

"I bet there is!" The other three all looked at Remus with questioning looks on their faces. "What? I'm just saying, he can't be any better than his parents." At this, they all shrugged as if agreeing.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. **

"Oh! Oh! I want to discover it!" Sirius was jumping up and down.

"Um, Sirius, I'm sure if you just let James read we'll find out what the secret is," Remus pointed out.

**They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. **

"HEY!" James was on his feet, glaring at the book in his hands.

Sirius was glaring at the book too, "There's nothing wrong with the Potters! They're great!" Remus shook his head in agreement.

James smiled gratefully at his friend for his loyalty.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; **

Remus noticed as Lily's face paled at these words, but didn't know what to think of it.

**in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister,**

Lily's eyes narrowed slightly, hiding how much the statement actually hurt her, not wanting the others to see her weakness.

**because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish**

"That's a funny word."

"Actually Sirius, it's not a word at all."

"Always the bookworm Moony." Remus grinned slightly as James used his nickname.

"Moony? What kind of name is that?" Lily asked. She didn't get an answer.

**as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. **

All three boys growled.

**The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him.**

"What? These people just keep getting worse and worse! I swear if that's my son they're talking bout, I'm going to hex these people!"

**This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"They're not just boring, they're crazy!"

"Sirius shut up."

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.**

"Witches and wizards!"

James scoffed at him. "Wow Sirius, way to go on pointing out the obvious!"

"Well, Peter's not here, so I'm taking over the job."

"Where is Peter anyway?" Lily asked.

"Detention. Or homework help."

**Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

"HA! I told you! BORING!"

"Sirius! Shut up!" Remus yelled. His ears were extra sensitive to loud noises at the moment.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"Oh, I so wish that was my kid!"

"Are you serious Lily? Wait, no, that's me!"

"Sarcasm Sirius."

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"Finally! Normal people!"

"Not to Muggles James."

"But Remus, we aren't Muggles."**  
**

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. **

"He just keeps on getting better and better!" Lily exclaimed. "Yes, Sirius, that was sarcasm."

"**Little tyke,"**

"Little?"

"Tyke?"

"What kind of name is that?"

"It's funny?"

"Are you serious?"

"I am!"

"Shut up!"

**chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into is car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map. **

"Sounds like an Animagus!"

"I'm surprised you even know what an Animagus is Potter."

"You'd be surprised about a lot of things Evans. I pay attention in class!" Remus snorted. "Okay, well sometimes."

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again.**

"Of course! Only he's stupid enough to do that!"

"You make no sense Sirius," Remus said.

**There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight.**

"Who thinks it's McGonagall?"

James responded to the bet and put 5 galleons in the pile with Sirius.

**What could he have been thinking of?**

"Probably nothing, as his head is filled with air." The boys just looked at Lily shocked. "What? I'm allowed to be mean sometimes."

"Why are we even reading about them anyways?" Sirius whined.

**It must have been the trick of the light.**

"Only he would think of that," muttered Remus.

**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.**

"Stupid!"

"Black do you want to finish this book any time soon?" Sirius nodded. "Then be quiet!"

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive – no, **_**looking**_** at the sign;**

"McGonagall can read as a cat."

**cats couldn't read maps **_**or**_** signs.**

"Yes they can!" James insisted.

"Not normal cats." Lily rolled her eyes at James.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"Boring!"

"Sirius be quiet!"

"But Remus, it's true!"

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"Wizards!" Sirius jumped up excitably.

"Thank you Mr. Obvious," Lily said.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes --**

"Figures," muttered Sirius.

**the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.**

"It is not stupid!"

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by.**

"I find that offensive!" Remus exclaimed.

"Well what else do you expect from a guy like that?" asked Lily.

**They were whispering excitedly together.**

"I wonder about what?" James asked.

**Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something …**

"What does he mean collecting for something?" The three boys all looked at Lily.

"Collecting money for some charity or event."

**yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

"Doesn't surprise me," muttered James.

"Boring!"

"Sirius, shut up already!" Remus chucked a pillow at him.

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning.**

"Really, I thought that was all he thought about!"

_**He**_** didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did;**

"It's wizards!"

"We know Sirius and how many times do I have to tell you to shut up?" Remus asked.

"Just a few more." Sirius grinned at him.

**they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen as owl even at nighttime. **

"Why?"

"Muggle thing."

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people.**

"He just becomes more pleasant every time we read about him."

"You know Evans, I actually agree with you for once."

"Thanks Black."

**He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"That's why he's so fat!" Sirius and James roared in laughter.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly,**

"But why?" James asked.

"We'll find out if you keep on reading!"

**too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag,**

"See doughnuts make you fat!"

**that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard—"**

"What about me and my wife?" James was on the edge of the seat wondering what they could possibly be talking about. "Well, I hope it's me and my wife." He quickly glanced at Lily.

"—**yes, their son, Harry—"**

"Yay! My son is named Harry!"

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

"Good, I'm sure they wouldn't want to speak to you!" Remus exclaimed.

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office,**

"I'm surprised he can even move that fast."

"But it never said how fast he moved!"

"Sirius it was implied that he moved quickly. You're an idiot."

"Well aren't you the smart one Remus."

Lily just rolled her eyes at the two of them."

**snapped at his secretary no to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed him mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking … no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name.**

"Yes it is! Otherwise I would have changed my name to be special!"

"James you don't need to change your name to be special, you just are."

"Thanks Lily."

"It wasn't meant as a compliment."

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew **_**was**_** called Harry.**

"That's awful!" Lily had sprung up out of her chair and the three boys didn't know how to react.

"Lily I agree with you, but you don't need to react that way," Remus pointed out, once again thinking about her strange behavior.

"Sorry, you're right." Lily didn't want to admit that she had a feeling that Harry was her own son.

**He'd never even seen the boy.**

This time James jumped up out of his seat. "I swear I'm going to hex this man for being so cruel to my son!"

**It might have been Harvey.**

"Not if I name him!"

**Or Harold.**

"That's even worse!"

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if **_**he'd**_** had a sister like that … but all the same, those people in cloaks…**

"These people are really getting on my nerves," Remus said and the others nodded in agreement.

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"Sounds like something Sirius would do."

"I find that offensive Moony! At least I won't kill the person like Dursley here."

"**Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.**

"See? He's a danger to society!" Sirius jumped up out of his seat.

"He should be taken away!" James followed Sirius' lead.

"Locked up!" Remus followed and the three of them all high-fived each other.

"I correct my statement from earlier. Sirius you're not an idiot."

"Thanks!"

"You're all idiots."

"Hey!"

**It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

All three teenagers had suddenly become very still at the words they had just read. Finally Lily spoke. "Did it just say Voldemort is gone?"

"I think so," James said looking at the book as if checking to make sure he read the passage right.

"But how?" Remus asked the question they all wanted the answer to.

Suddenly the room was filled with noise as Sirius jumped up screaming and dancing, running around the room. The other three followed and it took a while before they were calm enough for James to read again.

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"Ha ha! Bet that startled him!"

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot.**

"See? I was right?"

"I never thought there would be a day when you would be right Padfoot."

"Your sarcasm amuses me Moony."

**He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. **

"Boring!"

The other three had finally given up hope on yelling at Sirius to be quiet and just rolled their eyes.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"That has to be McGonagall."

"**Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

"Like that's going to scare her away!"

"Prongs, it hasn't actually said it's McGonagall yet."

"But Moony, I just know it!"

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

"See!"

**Was this normal cat behavior?**

"For McGonagall it is!" shouted Sirius.

"I don't even want to know what the three of you have done."

**Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day.**

"Boring, boring and boring!"

**She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Charming. I hope Harry turns out just like that!" James said sarcastically.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news.**

"**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise.**

"Owl post!"

"We know Sirius!"

**Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern."**

"But I can explain!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if that's the only thing you can explain."

"That hurt Evans."

**The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin**

"Funny name."

"Yours isn't any better, I mean Sirius?" Lily asked.

"But that's my first name!"

"Which just makes it worse!" James added.

"Why are you all so against me today?"

"Because you won't shut up!" added Remus.

"I'm always against you," added Lily.

**with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

"**Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Ken, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early – it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

"Only because we're amazing!"

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good.**

"What, the tea?"

"James, not you too! We only need one idiot in this room!"

"Hey!"

"Well, I agree with Lily on this one."

**He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er – Petunia,**

Lily paled at hearing her sister's name. It only confirmed her suspicions.

**dear – you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"What a great family!" Remus said.

"And to think, I'm related to these people!"

"Oh cheer up Prongs! It doesn't look like you have any contact with them!"

"**No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

"**Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls … shooting stars … and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

"_**So?"**_** snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

"So, it means wizards!"

"We know Black, and you always forget to mention witches!"

"**Well, I just thought … maybe … it was something to do with … you know … **_**her **_**crowd."**

"Does that mean us?" James asked.

"I think so," Remus said while Lily nodded her head in agreement.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare.**

"He's a coward," said James.

"Wouldn't do well in Gryffindor," added Lily.

"Good, I wouldn't want him in our house!" said Sirius.

"I think we can all agree with that," added Remus.

**Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son – he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

"**I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

"That's awful when they know nothing about their own nephew!"

"Lily, why do you care so much? It's my son!"

"Because girls just do! We have better emotions then guys."

"**What's his name again? Howard isn't it?"**

"**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"Harry is a fantastic name! Better then Dudley!"

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed.**

"Good, it's better when he doesn't talk."

"Oh Remus, I never knew you to be so mean."

"Is that supposed to be a complement?"

"Anyways Lily, you don't know much about any of us."

"I know enough James."

**While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did … if it got out that they were related to a pair of – well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

"I can assure you, we Potters are a lot better then you!"

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were**_** involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind.**

"And what we think of you is worse!"

"Sirius, I think I'm agreeing with you on something!"

"That's crazy, and you called me Sirius!"

"Well, there's a first for everything."

… **He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on – he yawned and turned over – it couldn't affect **_**them**_**. …**

**How very wrong he was.**

"Uh oh. I don't like where this is going," said James.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

"How could anyone sit so still for so long?" asked Remus.

"So are you actually agreeing with me that this is McGonagall?"

"I never said that Prongs."

"What is it with these names?" Lily asked, frustrated.

"Nothing," all three replied.

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

"It's a…" Sirius was cut off by Remus.

"Wizard. We know Sirius."

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

"Must be Dumbledore," said Lily.

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"Hey that's what I thought!" shouted Sirius.

"You think weird things," said Lily.

"You get used to it eventually," added James.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"You were right Lily," said Remus.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

"See, that proves it's McGonagall!"

"Not really, unless it actually says it's her, I'm not believing it."

James just ignored Remus.

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.**

"I didn't know he smoked," said Sirius. Lily just rolled her eyes.

**He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

"Cool!" exclaimed Sirius and James.

**He clicked it again – the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.**

"I want one of those!" said Sirius. "Think of all the pranks we could do!"

"I think Dumbledore invented that himself, so you'd have to steal it from him."

"You take the fun out of everything Moony."

"I do not!"

"Sometimes!"

"I beg to differ!"

"What's that mean?"

"It means you're an idiot."

"Thanks Evans, kill the fun why don't you?"

"I thought that was Remus' job?" Remus frowned at Lily for baiting Sirius.

"Remus doesn't work!"

"Like I said, you're an idiot!"

"And I'm proud of it!"

"Why would you want to be proud of that?"

"Because I can have more fun!"

"I beg to differ."

"Will you people stop saying that! What does it mean?"

"It means she disagrees!" James butted into their conversation. "Can we please read now? There are actually interesting people in the book!"

**If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement.**

"Good, we wouldn't want her to see anyways." Lily's tone seemed to suggest something more to Remus.

**Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak**

"Nice name," scoffed James.

"Don't make fun of it! I want it so bad!" Sirius whined.

**and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"HA! I WAS SO RIGHT!" Remus sighed in defeat.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"**How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly.**

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"That is kind of a stupid thing to do."

"Lily, I'm surprised you actually called something a teacher did stupid!" Sirius adopted a surprised look onto his face.

"Well you learn something new everyday Sirius. And technically, I'm not "calling something a teacher did stupid" as you say because this happens in the future." Lily smiled innocently at him.

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

"You know that's where we'll be Padfoot!" James and Sirius started running around the room again at the thought of Voldemort being gone.

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"She does that a lot," said James.

"Only at you two," added Remus.

"**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls … shooting stars … Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"Wasn't he a few years above us in Hufflepuff?" James asked.

"Yes, and he was an idiot," said Sirius.

"I'm sure he's not as big of an idiot as you Sirius," responded Lily.

"Actually Lily, he is." Remus felt like he needed to defend his friend sometimes.

"**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

"That's right! The world sucks right now!" James glared out the window.

"And to think, we don't have much longer at Hogwarts," Lily said. She was sad about thinking of leaving, and scared of what could happen, but at the same time always received a sense of thrill when thinking about leaving.

"I'm going to miss this place. Things won't be easy when we leave," James noticed Remus' face darken as he said this and knew people wouldn't be as understanding of his situation as Dumbledore.

"This was like another home to me, after your house of course," Sirius added.

All four of them sat in silence for a while, each thinking of what Hogwarts meant to them.

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

"Well, to tell the truth, they wouldn't look any better in Muggle clothes," Remus added.

"Hey Prongs, remember that time we saw Timothy Graten in London, and he and his mom were wearing matching flowered skirts?"

"How could I ever forget Padfoot? I took a picture of it when they weren't looking!"

"I want a copy of that!"

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't so she went on. "A fine thing it would be it, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has**_** gone, Dumbledore?"**

"Oh, I hope so," muttered Lily.

"**It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"I can't believe he likes those!" exclaimed Lily.

"A what?" asked Sirius.

"**A **_**what**_**?"**

The three all laughed at Sirius as he realized that he had said the same thing as McGonagall.

"**A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"How he could be fond of those, I have no idea. We used to have them at my house."

"**No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has**_** gone—"**

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this "You-Know-Who" nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort**_**." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "I all gets so confusing if we keep saying "You-Know-Who." I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"And neither have we!"

"I'm surprised McGonagall can't say his name. She is usually very sensible."

"**I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, **_**Voldemort**_**, was frightened of."**

"Yay! She said it!" cheered Sirius and James.

"And she's right, it's because of that that Hogwarts is safe right now. OtherwiseVoldemort would have taken over by now," said Remus.

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"That's not true! Dumbledore is the best wizard ever!" shouted Lily.

"**Only because you're too – well – **_**noble**_** to use them."**

"McGonagall said that right," stated James.

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

The room was silent for a moment before James and Sirius burst out in laughter, followed by Remus and then Lily.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the **_**rumors**_** that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

"I want to know this too," said James. "And why people kept talking about me…"

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.**

"That must be scary. We've been on plenty of receiving ends of her stares before."

"Sirius, be quiet right now!" snapped Lily. It was the gravity of the situation that Sirius actually listened.

**It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.**

"That's a smart idea. Dumbledore always knows what's going on," said Remus.

"You don't think he knows that we pulled some of those pranks last year?"

"Sirius, shut up!" yelled James.

"Why didn't you tell Remus to shut up?"

"Because he said something reasonable!"

"And I didn't?"

"NO!"

"Both of you SHUT UP! James just read!" Lily was trying hard to control her nerves.

**Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

"I wish he would say something. His silence makes me uncomfortable." Lily fidgeted in her seat.**  
**

"**What they're **_**saying**_**," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters.**

James paled at these words.

**The rumor is that Lily and James Potter**

At these words the noise was deafening. James shot up from his seat and started celebrating excitably. The thought of him being married to Lily wiped out any thought of Voldemort coming for them.

Lily groaned. "Why did I have to be right?" James turned to her.

"You knew?"

"I had a guess once it mentioned the Dursleys and Petunia."

"Wow Lily, who would have thought that you would actually marry James here? And your relatives are horrible, but as bad as mine really," Sirius said.

"I know they're horrible, but Petunia is just jealous really. What's so bad about your family?"

"They're evil gits. I live with James now." Sirius' face darkened and a glance from both James and Remus, Lily deduced to not ask anymore.

Finally the room became quiet enough for James to continue reading.

**are – are – that they're **_**dead.**_**"**

A minute before the room had been filled with four happy celebrating teenagers. But after reading those words, they were all shocked into silence. A tear rolled down Lily's cheek and James went to comfort her. He was filled with dread at the thought of Lily dieing, but was surprised when she didn't push him away. Finally James regained his voice and started to read.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"**Lily and James …**

James felt Lily shudder.

**I can't believe it … I didn't want to believe it … Oh, Albus …"**

"Looks like she does like you after all James!" The mood lightened as Sirius hoped it would.

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know … I know …" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all.**

"What more could he have possibly done?" Lily was close to the verge of tears. James pulled her tighter to him.

**They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.**

Lily let out a cry and James felt rage stir inside of him. He heard Remus and Sirius shout as if in the distance and found he wasn't able to speak anymore. He finally calmed himself down and handed to book to Remus to read.

**But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy.**

"What?" Lily shook with sobs at the thought of her baby surviving.

James shouted out with joy. He didn't care at that moment that he would be dead. His son had survived.

**No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone."**

"Our son defeated Voldemort?" There was a moment of shocked silence and then all four started to scream at once.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" Lily shouted over and over/

"This kid rocks!" Sirius pumped his fists into the air.

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

"**It's – it's **_**true**_**?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done … all the people he's killed … he couldn't kill a little boy?**

"That really is extraordinary," mused Remus.

"Our baby is amazing!" shouted James.

**It's just astounding … of all the things to stop him … but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"I want to know that too," wondered Lily.

"**We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"Pity," sighed Lily.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it.**

"They care about our son James!" Lily then realized what she had just said and blushed a deep red.

Remus and Sirius just snickered.

**It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers, instead, little planets were moving around the edge.**

"My dad has one like that!" James grinned. "Remember when we took it apart hoping we could figure out how to work it?" Sirius laughed.

"Your dad was really mad at us!"

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"Yay Hagrid!" shouted James.

They all smiled thinking about their friend Hagrid.

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_** you're here, of all places?"**

"Oh no!" muttered Lily as she realized something.

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"What? This can't be happening! They don't even know him!" James look outraged.

"And they hate you," Sirius added.

"Not helping Sirius!"

"**You don't mean – you **_**can't**_** mean the people who live **_**here**_**?" cried professor McGonagall,**

"Good, she agrees with us," said James.

**jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore – you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"Petunia's not going to like this. She hates anything to do with wizards!" Lily looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"**It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"Does he really think he can explain all of this in a letter?" asked Remus.

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?**

"Hey!" shouted Remus.

"Ha ha Moony! You said the same thing as McGonagall!" Remus stared at Sirius, trying to comprehend the fact. "You must be more like her then we thought!" Sirius then looked at Remus with a scared face. "Get away from me! I don't want you rubbing off on me!"

"Lily's right Padfoot, you're an idiot." Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius.

"Again! What's with these nicknames?" The three boys just ignored her.

**These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future – there will be books written about Harry –every child in our world will know his name!"**

"And to think, that's our son." Lily had a wistful smile on her face.

"Yeah…" James was too stunned for words.

"**Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head.**

"He's right you know," added Remus.

**Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"I wish I was famous," said Sirius. Lily had a pained look on her face.

"But for something like this?"

"Well, my family isn't too great, so it wouldn't really matter. But I don't like the fact you're both dead." Sirius' words affected all of their moods, and they sat in silence for a minute.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, "Yes – yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"That would be weird."

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**

"**You think it – **_**wise**_** – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"Of course! Hagrid won't hurt our son!" James glared at the book a little, as though offended by its contents.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"See, Dumbledore knows what he's doing! I would trust Hagrid with my life if I had to!"

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless.**

"She does have a point," said Lily.

"Lily, don't worry. Hagrid will be careful with something like this." James squeezed her hand in comfort and was thrilled when she didn't mind.

**He does tend to – what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"I want a flying motorbike! I've been researching them! Maybe that's me and I've come to rescue Hagrid!" Sirius was bouncing with excitement.

"Oh I hope so Sirius. I even think you're better than Petunia!" Lily exclaimed.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it.**

"Did you gain some weight Sirius?" James said jokingly.

**He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide.**

"Sounds like Hagrid!" Remus said.

"Damn," muttered Sirius.

**He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild**_** – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"James! It's our son!" Lily gripped James arm in relief.

"**Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

"From me! It has to be mine! Please, please say it's mine!" Sirius pleaded with the book.

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"Yes! It is mine! I was so right!" Sirius had leapt up in excitement.

"**No problems, were there?"**

"**No, sir – house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"How sweet!"

"Why do girls always think everything is sweet?" asked Sirius.

"It's a girl thing."

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair **

"He has your hair Prongs," said Remus.

James ruffled up his hair to make is messier but heard Lily mutter, "Oh no."

**over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

"What's that from? Why does he have a scar on his forehead? It's not because of something we did is it? I don't want to be a horrible mother like Petunia!" Lily had become frantic.

"Lily," James said while pulling her back down onto her chair, "settle down. I'm sure it's nothing."

"**Is that where --?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

"Sounds like it's from Voldemort," said Remus.

"Well, I guess it's not nothing then. But at least it's not because of us Lily." Lily smiled at the thought of not being a bad parent.

"**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

"I really didn't need to know that. I wonder how he got it?" asked Sirius.

**Well – give him here, Hagrid – we'd better get this over with."**

"Sirius, you better rescue Harry, or I'll never forgive you!" shouted Lily.

"I thought you were long past forgiving me?"

"I am, but this is serious!"

"No, I'm Sirius!"

"Shut up! It's not the right time for your stupid jokes!"

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house.**

"**Could I – could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.**

"I'll bet it was," commented Remus. He noticed Lily's stare and added, "Sorry."

**Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"NO! A dog better not be wounded! And I bet you I can howl better then him!" shouted Sirius.

Lily just glanced at him, not getting the joke.

"**Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

"**S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead –**

All four of them felt extremely sad at the thought.

**an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –"**

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found,"**

"Okay, I change my mind. She's still too strict. She should care more," said Sirius.

**Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously,**

"She does too care Sirius," said Lily.

**and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"Wow, never thought something like that would happen."

"It shows they care at least," said Remus.

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

"Don't worry guys, we won't be celebrating," said Remus to his two friends.

"Yeah! We'll be planning a rescue mission for your son." Lily smiled at the loyalty her new friends were showing her.

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall – Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"I can't wait to have that bike!"

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

"Poor Harry."

"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

"I can't wait until I learn how to Apparate," said James.

"But doesn't it make a loud noise?" asked Remus.

"Well, Dumbledore is the best wizard ever. He probably can control that," added Lily.

"I wish I was as good of a wizard as Dumbledore."

"Why is that Sirius? So you can play even worse pranks on poor unsuspecting people?' asked Lily.

"Yep! And you better watch out, just because you're dating Prongs now, doesn't mean I'll stop pranking you."

"We aren't dating!" James looked dejected at her words.

"All the better than," said Sirius, smiling wickedly at her.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream**

"A horrible sound," noted Lily.

**as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley.**

"I really hate that kid!" said Sirius.

… **He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!"**

Lily felt tears forming in her eyes of the thought of her son. She wished she could be there for him, but knew that what she and James did was for the best.

"That's the end of the chapter, should we keep reading?" asked Remus.

The three boys looked at Lily waiting for her answer.

"Why are you all looking at me?" she asked.

"Because you're head girl."

"And you're head boy, why can't you decide?" James grinned at her.

"Because you know what my answer would be already."

Lily sighed. "We should read another chapter for tonight, I want to know more about my son."

The three boys cheered and Lily rolled her eyes at their antics. She held out her hand, "I'll read. Okay, the next chapter is The Vanishing Glass.

**So how did you guys like this chapter? 32 pages! That's quite long, and I should add that it's harder to write for the mauraders then it looks! Well, please review and tell me what you think!**


	3. The Vanishing Glass

**Okay, onto the next chapter! I hope you guys like this so far, and just to let you know the next chapter will be them not reading the book. I just thought I would let you guys know that.**

**And I am so sorry I haven't updated in forever, but life got in the way, I'm sure you know what that's like.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not get a feeling of pride when I say I own Harry Potter, because unfortunately I do not own Harry Potter.**

_Lily sighed. "We should read another chapter for tonight, I want to know more about my son."_

_The three boys cheered and Lily rolled her eyes at their antics. She held out her hand, "I'll read. Okay, the next chapter is __The Vanishing Glass.__"_

" I wonder what that means?" asked Sirius.

"Probably accidental magic," replied Remus.

"Always have to spoil the fun of imagination don't you?" Sirius mock-glared at Remus.

"No, that's Vernon Dursley," he answered.

"Can you two just let me read now?" asked Lily impatiently.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step,**

"That means he's eleven!" shouted James.

"Yay, Hogwarts!" Sirius jumped up in joy.

"Sit down Sirius!" Lily glared until he listened to her.

**but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.**

"BORING!" the three boys shouted.

**Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets**

All four laughed.

– **but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"What!" James stomped around the room in rage while Lily, Remus and Sirius glared at the book.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

"Poor Harry, I know what that feels like."

"Lily, you should be the one waking him up in the morning." Lily smiled at James.

"**Up! Get up! Now!"**

"She doesn't have to be so rude," stated Remus.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"Yell at her to go away Harry!" They all stared at Sirius. "What? It's what I would do."

"Yes, and your ideas always work out perfectly Sirius." Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus.

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.**

"Yay food!"

**He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it.**

"Yes! And it's mine!"

"Do you always have to scream Sirius?"

"You'll get used to it Lily," replied Remus.

**He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"It was real Harry! But it shouldn't have been! You should be in your bed, in your room, in our house with us!"

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

Lily just shook her head gloomily, wishing she could take her sister's place.

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"**Nearly," said Harry.**

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon.**

"Don't treat him like a slave!"

**And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

Sirius and James laughed at the name.

"Poor Harry, I have a feeling this won't turn out well," said Remus.

Lily silently agreed with him.

**Harry groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"**Nothing, nothing…"**

**Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten?**

"That's easy, just don't think about those horrible people."

**Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,**

"EWW! Petunia should clean his room better!"

**put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

With this all four were sent into a rampage. Shouts of "I'll kill her!" and "I can't believe this!" and "Wait till I get my hands on her!" all mixed together making an incoherent jumble of sound. It took a while for them to settle down before Lily could continue reading.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents.**

"Spoiled brat!"

**It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted,**

"What's a computer?" asked James.

"Honestly James, do you ever pay attention in Muggle studies?"

"Nope!" Lily just sighed before answering.

"It's a box type thing, where people can play games and do work."

"Okay, good enough for me!"

**not to mention the second television**

"And what's a television?"

"Similar to a computer, but they watch things on it for entertainment." This time Remus answered.

**and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry,**

"I totally agree," added Sirius.

**as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise**

"Figures," they all muttered.

**- unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

"Great, Harry's living with a bully," groaned James.

"Well you aren't much better, always picking on Sev."

"Who?"

"Severus."

"That's totally different." Lily stood up in rage. She still felt the need to defend her old friend.

"HOW?" Lily and James glared at each other for a few minutes before James looked down and Lily finally started reading again.

**Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry,**

"I can't believe Petunia would actually let him do this! She's my sister for Merlin's sake!" The three boys looked at Lily surprised.

"Never thought I would see the day when Lily Evans would curse." Sirius started clapping before being slapped on the head by Lily.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"That's good," Lily sighed with relief.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"No that's just you Harry. Just like your dad," joked Remus.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.**

"Poor kid."

**Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"Sounds almost identical to you James!"

"Except he has Lily's eyes, thank Merlin. I love those eyes." James got a dreamy look on his face and Lily blushed in embarrassment.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

They all scowled at this.

**The only thing Harry like about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

"Must have been from that night," Lily managed to say before choking up with grief.

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

"**In the car crash when your parents died,"**

"I can't believe this crazy lady! She better be careful or she's going to have to answer to me one of these days!" Sirius was going in a frenzy, but the others weren't doing much better.

**she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

_**Don't ask questions**_** -- that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

"She's stunting my poor baby's education and curiosity!" The boys rolled their eyes at Lily's "mother mode".

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb you hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

"Like that will help!" Everyone grinned as James ruffled up his hair even more.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place.**

"My mother finally gave up on me."

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon.**

"I'd feel sorry for the kid if it weren't for the fact he beats Harry up. Trust me, I met Vernon this summer, and he's not a pretty sight to see."

**He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.**

"Lovely description."

**Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

The boys roared in laughter.

"Looks like Harry received your sense of humor James!" Lily just froze in terror at Sirius' words.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

"I don't like the sounds of this," Remus said.

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

All four teenagers were in a state of shock. "That's… that's crazy! Thirty six!"

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

"THIRTY SEVEN!"

"Who spoils their kid that much?" asked Sirius.

"Apparantly my stupid sister."

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on,**

"Baby," muttered Remus.

**began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"Don't choke Harry!" said Lily, unable to restrain her mother instinct.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another **_**two**_** presents while we're out today.**

"THIRTY NINE! THAT SPOILED BRAT!"

"And I have the feeling that Harry gets nothing!"

Remus and Sirius had become afraid of their two friends as they ranted.

**How's that, popkin?**

"Popkin? Who calls their kid popkin?" Sirius wore a look of disgust on his face.

_**Two**_** more presents. Is that all right?"**

"No!" they all shouted.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work.**

"For him probably!" Remus shook him head in disbelief.

**Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty … thirty…"**

Sirius looked shocked. "Even I can do that!"

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"What is with my sister and these stupid names?"

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

"**Little tyke**

"Little? You're calling him little?" James looked at the book as if something was wrong with the world.

**wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"I can't believe them," said Remus.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike,**

"Spoiled," muttered James.

**a video camera,**

"Brat," muttered Sirius.

**a remote control airplane,**

"Pig in a wig," said Remus and they all started laughing.

**sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.**

"I can't believe my son has to live with them!"

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch**

"He's eleven in the name of Merlin! He doesn't need a watch yet! We don't get those till we're seventeen!" Sirius was unable to control his anger anymore.

"He probably can't even read a watch," suggested a grinning James.

**when aunt Petunia came back form the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

"This won't be good," said Lily.

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him."**

**She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"They're awful!"

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg,**

"That's not fair at all!"

**a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"I would hate it too Harry," said Sirius.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. **

"It's not like he wanted to live with you!" snapped James while glaring at the book.

**Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg,**

"Well at least he's nicer than his father," joked Remus, ducking as James sent a spell at him.

"I resent that statement."

"I didn't know you knew such big words James."

**but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"I hate cats!" muttered Sirius.

"That's because you're a dog," pointed out Remus.

"And proud of it!" Sirius pumped his fist into the air.

"I don't even want to know," muttered Lily.

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"Then don't phone her, she has bad taste in decency of people apparently.

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there **

"They're going to pay for treating my son like this," Remus backed away at the glint in James' eyes, but Sirius just grinned broadly. Already prank after prank was rolling through both of their heads.

– **or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"My son is much better than yours!"

"Yeah, Harry's not a spoiled fat brat or a pig!"

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?"**

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"Good, anyone who is friends with Petunia can't be good," remarked Remus.

"I hate Yvonne, she's annoying!" Lily looked frightened at the thought.

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer.)**

"My poor baby!" Lily looked at the book with longing and pity, wishing she could take care of her baby.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"She looks like that quite a bit," said Lily.

"I'm sorry for your family Lily, I know what it's like not to have a good one." Lily smiled gratefully at Sirius.

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"He won't blow up the house! Even though I just might…" James had a faraway look in his eyes as he pictured something none of the others could see.

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"I told you he wouldn't."

"We know James, now just let Lily read!"

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car.…"**

"That's cruel!"

"And you mean everything else hasn't been?" Sirius looked at Lily, wondering if her life with her sister was this bad.

Sirius didn't have a good childhood growing up. He was the complete opposite of his family, the odd-man-out. It hurt reading this book. Not just for the fact that his best friend and eventually new friend would be killed, or the fact that his godson would be alone, or even the fact that he had no idea what happened to his two other friends or himself. No, what hurt the most was the fact that Harry was going through the same life he had, and each stab, each word directed at Harry by the Dursleys was like a stab at him from his family.

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…."**

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying **

"I'm disliking him less and less," muttered James.

"We all agree," the other three said together.

– **it had been years since he'd really cried – but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"He is so spoiled! I can't believe my sister is actually doing this!"

"**Dinky Duddydums, **

Sirius roared with laughter.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"Harry wouldn't ruin his special day. But, "Dinky Duddydums" spoils Harry's day 24/7." Remus didn't usually get mad, but he was beginning to notice his blood boiling.

"**I … don't … want … him … t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs.**

Lily shook her head at the immaturity of her nephew.

"**He always sp-spoils everything!"**

"He does not!" snapped Remus.

**He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

"Why … that …" but whatever James and Sirius were going to say was interrupted as Lily put a silencing spell on both of them.

**Just then, the doorbell ran – "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mothers.**

"Why do I get the feeling that he won't be any better than Dudley?" asked Sirius.

"Because he's Dudley's best friend?" suggested Remus.

"Is that supposed to suggest any hidden message Remus?"

Remus just smirked at Lily while James and Sirius started to protest before realizing that they still couldn't speak.

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

"Good thing Peter isn't here, he wouldn't like that," said Remus.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"I hate them both. Does my sister and her husband honestly not realize what's going on with their son and his friends? Or do you think they just don't want to deal with it?" Lily's eyes had a steely glint in them that the boys had never seen. James cowered, glad that he had never made her that angry before.

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursley's car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

All four teenagers sat shocked for a minute, letting the news sink in. Once it had, they all reacted to the news in different ways.

James jumped up and down in the air while Sirius made lots of noise with his wand as he was still unable to speak. Remus smiled and felt immensely glad for his surrogate nephew while Lily had the complete opposite reaction to any of them. Her green eyes squinted with anger as she noticed the last part of the sentence.

"For the first time? He's never been to the zoo before?"

"What did you say Lily? Aren't you happy? Harry gets to go for the zoo!" Remus said in joy, not entirely sure of what it was, but liking the sound of it anyways.

"Yeah, for the first time! Our son has never been anywhere before! I mean, I know it mentioned he doesn't get to go anywhere ever earlier in the book, but I thought that was an exaggeration of sorts!"

This news settled into the boys minds and it wasn't hard for any of them to realize the significance of the sentence. All at once, all three of the boys' anger blew up at once. James and Sirius started shooting curses at random objects in the room. Lily took pity on them and took off the silencing spell, enjoying the sound for once of their voices as they were much better at expressing their anger. But that didn't stop Remus and Lily from shouting either.

"Why those…!"

"I'm going to kill them!"

"Those … stupid … when I … my hands on … I'll show… look different …"

"There are so many curses…"

"Boils! Blisters! Fire-breathing dragons! Flash Floods! …"

Finally they all settled down and Lily resumed reading.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"Now what?" moaned Lily.

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"If they do that to him…" Sirius trailed off.

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

"My poor baby," Lily looked forlornly at the book, already missing the son she would barely get to know.

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"They are going to pay for treating my son like this!" shouted James.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar."**

"She really should know by now that she can't do anything with his hair," said Remus, looking at his friend unruly hair.

"My poor baby! He won't want to look like that!"

"Yeah, especially if he's as cocky as James!" yelled Sirius before he and Remus doubled over with laughter. James whacked them on their heads in response.

**Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

Tears were forming in Lily's eyes at the thought of her son not having a real family. James pulled her close, thinking the same thing.

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

"YES!" James pumped his fist in the air and Lily laughed.

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he **_**couldn't**_** explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"WHAT?" James looked thunderstruck.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).**

"Ewww!" Lily couldn't believe her sister had lost all sense of style. "I would never make Harry wash that!"

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"Well that's good," said Remus.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.**

"Harry James Potter! What are you doing on top of the roof?" The three boys quickly stifled their cheers and laughter once seeing the look on Lily's face. They didn't want to be on her bad side.

**Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"Accidental magic, it's amazing what people can do!" Sirius yelled before noticing Lily glaring at him.

**They Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon though the locked door of his cupboard)**

"Vernon Dursley is going to get it!" James exclaimed and was surprised when all three of the other people in the room shook their heads in agreement, including Lily.

**was jump behind the big trashcans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"I don't think so Harry," said Remus.

"He can't hear you Moony!" pointed out Sirius.

"Sadly," sighed Lily and Sirius felt bad as both Lily and James looked dejected.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

"My poor baby," Lily repeated.

"Don't worry Lily, we'll make sure that doesn't happen!" James wore a serious look on his face and Sirius and Remus just nodded their heads in approval.

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He likes to complain about things: people at work, Harry,**

"Hey!"

**the council, Harry,**

"What!"

**the bank, and Harry**

"Now really!"

**were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"Motorcycles are cool!" shouted Sirius. "And flying ones are better!"

"…**roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

"Well, Dursley has one part of that statement correct, because Sirius is a maniac," said Remus. He had to duck to avoid to spell shot his way.

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

"You shouldn't have said that son," James said to the book.

"And it wasn't just a dream Harry," added Remus, remembering the last chapter.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his sear and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache:**

"You have to admit that that's kind of funny," Sirius said chuckling.

"Not when he's about to yell at my son," Lily pointed out.

"True…"

"**MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"Mine does!"

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

"No it's not!"

"He doesn't know that Padfoot!"

"Always the voice of reason Moony."

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"Why does that not surprise me?" asked James.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.**

"I guess that was kind of nice," said Lily, unsure of her reaction.

"Harry did exactly what I would have done!"

"Which is what Sirius? I don't want him acting like you!"

"Relax Lily, he took advantage of the situation."

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

"The son of a true marauder," said James.

Lily just looked scandalized at the thought.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time.**

"Poor Harry, he should have the best morning all the time," said Lily.

**He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys**

"Smart kid," said Remus.

"You mean like yourself? You trying to make yourself look better?"

"Be quiet Sirius, I might just hex you. Besides, I'm not a pompous stuck up person like you."

**so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbockers glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

"That's sort of nice too, I guess…" Lily looked uncertain.

"Only if you don't count the fact Dudley is a spoiled pig," added James.

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

All four of them groaned.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone.**

"I hate snakes," muttered Sirius.

**Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quietly found the largest snake in the place.**

"Which fits as he's the largest boy in the place," said Remus while rolling his eyes.

**It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trashcan**

"Cool!" shouted both James and Sirius.

Lily was shaking her head and Remus thought he heard her mutter "Boys…"

– **but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. It face, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"Eww!" they all shouted.

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"HA!"

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered.**

"Spoiled bossy brat! Even though, at least he's ordering his dad around instead of Harry for once," added Lily as an afterthought.

**Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"HA!"

"Sirius shut up!" Sirius quailed under the look Lily shot at him.

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long.**

"Like the Dursleys," said James.

**It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom,**

"Not much worse though," added Remus.

**where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up;**

"Nothing good comes from that," added Lily remembering her own experiences with her sister.

**at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

"True…" added James, uncertain if that was much better though.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

_**It winked.**_

All four teenagers sat in shock for a moment until James yelled, "WHAT?"

"This is unexpected," added Lily.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

"NO! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO RESPOND BACK TO THE SNAKE HARRY!"

"Sirius, why do you hate snakes so much?" asked Lily.

"My family," Sirius muttered darkly. Lily realized she wasn't going to get any more of an explanation out of him and resigned herself to continue reading.

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

"_**I get that all the time."**_

"I really want to know what's going on!" Lily felt very frustrated at the moment.

"You aren't the only one," said James.

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

"**Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?"**

Once again the four teenagers were shocked into silence.

"He had an entire conversation with the snake?" James asked in disbelief.

"You know…" Remus didn't finish what he was saying for two reasons. One, he was too scared to think about the possibility of Harry being able to talk to snakes and two because of Sirius.

"Why? Why why why!" He was glaring daggers at the book, as if trying to burn it for containing information regarding his family.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T **_**BELIEVE**_** WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

"How come I have the feeling this won't turn out well?" asked Remus.

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

"Which would be slow," James attempted to lighten the mood and it seemed to work as Sirius laughed.

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.**

"I really hate that kid!" fumed Lily.

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

Sirius and James howled with laughter and both Remus and Lily chuckled.

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. **

"There's the chapter title!" shouted Sirius.

"Thank you Mr. Obvious." Lily rolled her eyes.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come. … Thanksss, amigo."**

That did it for all four of them. Lily sat stunned at what she read and James cursed.

"NO! NO! NO!" Sirius yelled in frustration and anguish while Remus felt his hope sink as his speculations were confirmed.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"Magic!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yes, but he doesn't know that stupid."

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed,**

"That's a pity," Lily said, shocking all three boys.

**but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.**

"Oh stop exaggerating!" Sirius yelled.

"Hmm, sounds like something you would do Sirius," said Lily while glaring at him.

Sirius seemed to shrink into the cushions before mumbling something none of them could hear.

**But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

They all groaned.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go – cupboard – stay – no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"Stupid drunk!"

"No meals! What will he do?" Sirius asked while already planning a midnight visit to the kitchen.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"For once James, I'm glad you're his father," Lily said before realizing the different meaning of her words. She blushed from embarrassment and rage as James grinned at her. "I didn't mean it like that!"

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years,**

Lily sighed.

**as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash.**

The mood of the room grew somber as all the teenagers remembered the sad event their lives were heading towards.

**He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died.**

"I still can't believe they lied to him," said Remus, his face contorted with rage.

**Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"I can't believe he can actually remember that. He was only a year old at the time," said Lily.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take his away, but it had never happened;**

"And I don't understand why I didn't come! Ten years and not once! I should be there!" Sirius said, distraught with grief.

"Or me! Why did I not come? I know my conditions not the best to raise a child, but still." said Remus. All four in the room wondered the same thing, that maybe they weren't able too.

**the Dursleys were his only family.**

"I really wish that wasn't true," said James. "That means the rest of my family dies in this war."

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.**

"Wizards!" Sirius yelled excitably.

None of the other three teenagers bothered to point out that the fact was obvious.

"But we aren't strange," added James as an afterthought.

"To Muggles we are," said Lily.

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old women dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word.**

They all laughed.

**The weirdest thing about all these people was the way the seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"Apparation!"

Lily just sighed.

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"Well, that wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, it wasn't that happy," said Lily.

"But you have to admit, the vanishing glass part was priceless!" said James and Sirius cackled with laughter.

"But not the snake thing, being a Parselmouth isn't a good thing," added Remus.

"I wonder though how he became one?" asked James, becoming serious at the thought. "Isn't is usually passed down by family?"

"Hard to say, wasn't the last Parselmouth Voldemort?" asked Sirius.

"I didn't know that!" said Lily, and by the looks of it neither did the other two. "How did you know that Sirius?"

"Family…" he muttered.

Lily was becoming very frustrated at the vague and angry comments Sirius kept saying about his family, but she knew not to press him. She could tell it was a touchy subject for him, but all the same … her family was being exposed in the book and it didn't seem fair that they all knew. She knew nothing about the rest of them.

"So," said Sirius, "are we reading another chapter?"

"I want…" but James was cut off from talking by Lily.

"Not tonight, it's too late." The boys all knew not to argue with her so they all got up and left; Remus and Sirius using the cloak and James and Lily pretending as if they were finishing up their head duties.

As they got nearer to the fat lady portrait Lily slowed her steps down a bit, not wanting to let everyone in Gryffindor know that she was becoming friends with the marauders just yet. As she entered through the portrait Lily noticed that all three boys were now huddled around the piece of parchment she had seen James with earlier. She snuck up behind them and got a glance of it before James whipped it out of her sight.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he replied.

"Don't lie to me James Potter! I thought that was your homework!" Lily barely noticed as the attention from everyone in the room was being redirected towards the table they were at.

"Please, I finished my homework a while ago!"

"Since when do you do homework?"

"Since always! But you've been to distracted with my good looks to notice anything else haven't you?"

Lily's eyes narrowed at his contempt. It looked like it would take a while before they became friends, let alone fall in love. "That was the wrong thing to say!"

Lily whipped out her wand and the next second James Potter had lost his pants. The people in the common room roared in laughter and Lily blushed slightly as she realized she had just made a scene. Mortified she hurried up the stairs to her room, her best friend Alice following, but still shaking with silent laughter. Lily couldn't think of anything to say to Alice as they got ready for bed.

Finally after much silence Alice said, "You know Lily, I'm thinking you just might like him."

Lily whirled around in disbelief at her friend's words. "Excuse me?"

"Well, a lot of the time you do put yourself into these situations."

"How?"

"You didn't have to know what they were doing! You went over there by choice."

"I really don't-"

"You could have come and sat by me! Face it Lily, you're starting to like him!"

"Alice, I'm head girl. It's my job to make sure their not getting into any trouble!"

"Yes, and James is head boy. And Remus is a prefect! Besides, it's their last year, even if that was a prank they were working on, let them have some fun." Lily could hardly believe what her friend was saying.

"Alice, Sirius almost killed Severus!" They both knew about the incident, though how Sirius almost killed Severus was a mystery. They both just remembered the long amount of detentions, (which wasn't that uncommon), and the subdued mood of the foursome for the following few weeks.

"And now they won't be stupid enough to do it again!"

"How do you know?"

"Face it Lily, you're falling for him."

"How many times do I have to tell you Alice? I don't like him!"

"Come here look into my eyes and repeat that statement then."

Lily walked over to her friend, the weird thing was a nervousness almost like butterflies had started to form in her stomach, and she couldn't understand what it meant. As she lifted her head level to her friend's, she felt like she was moving in slow motion.

"Alice I-"

But Lily was cut off from finishing her sentence as the door opened and their other three roommates walked in.

"Hey guys!"

"Nice shouting match Lily!"

"It's a nice change when you actually feel like attacking him back, gave us all a laugh."

Lily smiled at her friends then looked back at Alice.

"Good night."

She then turned around and jumped into bed, closing the curtains around her. As she laid down to fall asleep she couldn't stop all the thoughts filling her head. She had learned so much the past hour. She would be marrying James and having a kid, a life together. But Voldemort had gotten in the way and the two of them had died. The words of Alice also occupied her mind, but she shook them out of her head, not wanting to accept them.

But she couldn't stop one last thought floating through her mind before drifting off to sleep. She remembered his voice, and the look on his face as James said, "Except he has Lily's eyes, thank Merlin. I love those eyes."

And that was the last thing Lily thought of before falling asleep.

**And there it is! I know it's taken forever and I'm sorry about that! And there really aren't any excuses but I'm going to give some anyway! Well, I was almost done with this when my computer went crazy because I had to show an iMovie at school for world history and the projector makes the screens go crazy because the display size isn't correct. So then afterwards it was gone. And I was so mad because then I would have to start all over! And then randomly one day it showed back up again, which is really strange.**

**So I'm done with that rambling. Now I was thinking of bringing some people in other then the marauders just because it seems like some of the other characters either deserve to hear the books or should just be there. So when you review, which I hope you do, list some of the characters that you would want to hear the story! And I'll go from there! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So I'm starting this chapter early so that I get it done faster. Because I really do feel bad about how long I made everyone wait for the last chapter. Remember to email me the characters that you want me to add to the group of who is reading the book! It will help a lot. And on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I'm a 15 year-old American girl, do I sound like I own Harry Potter?**

Lily woke up the next morning and started her daily routine. But as she was waiting for Alice to finish getting ready she realized things would always be different. It could never be the same after finding that special book the night before. The two girls made their way downstairs, and out the common room, heading towards the great hall for breakfast.

At every corner Lily prepared herself of the possibility of finding Potter, as she returned to calling him, in the next hallway. It was only when she subconsionly realized what she was doing that she forced herself to pay attention to her friend, whose conversation she hoped would retain her attention. When they entered the great hall, Lily glanced up and down the Gryffindor table a few times, hoping that the Marauders weren't there before sighing in relief. She wasn't sure what her reaction towards them would be and it didn't seem like a good time to find out when half the school could see.

They sat themselves about a quarter of the way down the table, which had become the sixth and seventh year spots mostly, making sure there were empty seats on either side of them.

"So…" Alice said, giving Lily a look that unfortunately Lily knew all too well.

"So…" Lily repeated, not wanting to help Alice with this conversation at all.

"We never did get to finish our conversation last night."

Lily reached for the jam, taking a moment to spread it on her toast before responding. "And right now isn't the time to finish it."

Alice smirked at her, "Well there's only one reason why you wouldn't want to finish this conversation right now."

Lily just looked at Alice blankly. She had a feeling she knew exactly what Alice was going to say but didn't want to think of that possibility.

Alice plunged on when she realized Lily wasn't going to say anything, instead Lily poured herself a goblet of pumpkin juice and brought it to her lips. She enjoyed the feel of the cold liquid sliding down her throat.

"I mean it Lily, the only reason why right now wouldn't be the perfect time to finish our conversation is because you wanted to say the one thing that you don't want anyone to know."

Lily pondered her friend's words. In truth she wasn't sure what she had been about to say the night before. She had really wanted time to consider this before picking up the conversation, but of course Alice would never allow that. Lily sighed, frantically trying to come up with something to say, but having a hard way seeing how she could possibly get out of this.

"Lily! Everyone is this entire school, including the teachers I may point out, knows that you don't like James Potter. You think he's a 'slime ball git' who should go stick his head up Merlin's ass." Lily rose her eyebrows at this. "Okay, maybe I embellished a little, but you need help with your words," Alice said. "So it doesn't matter if we finish this conversation right now anyways because it won't be nothing new to everyone else."

"People will think it's weird if we're talking about that right now."

"Why?"

"If people catch on that _you_ think I _like _James Potter, it will go all over the school that it's true, and that will be the end of it, so no thank you."

Alice sat there, staring at Lily with a frustrated look on her face. To save herself from looking at the scrutiny on her friend's face, she looked down, playing with the food on her plate. She pretended that the swirls of leftover corn juice and gravy were fascinating when in reality she wasn't paying attention. Lily had every bit of her attention on her friend, every nerve waiting to respond to some movement or reaction. She noticed as Alice barely shifted in her seat, as she scrunched her eyebrows together and the blink of her eyes.

Finally Alice cleared her throat, as if preparing for a speech. She interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on her hands. Alice had a round face and dark hair. Whenever she smiled her eyes lit up with joy. They were a dark blue color and she pierced Lily with them now.

"You're lying."

"How many times do I have to tell you Alice? I don't like him, and I'm not lying!"

"Maybe that's true. Maybe you don't like him like that… yet. But you will." Alice noticed the look Lily gave her and sighed. "Okay, let's say you don't. But something's there, something's different, I just don't know what yet."

Lily sat there stunned. She didn't think she had acted out of the ordinary after what she had learned yesterday, except for that flash of a moment when she didn't know what to say, yet here was Alice with it all figured out. Because something had changed.

"Well I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing's different. Nothing's changed."

"You have to work with him, spend time with him."

"I don't have a choice."

Alice just shrugged. Lily sighed at how persistant her friend was being. She had never been like this before.

"Look Alice, if you seriously think that I like James Potter-"

But Lily was cut off from finishing her sentence as a booming laugh and shout rang through the air.

"What did I just hear you say Evans?"

"Black."

The marauders had arrived, and Lily couldn't have thought of a worse time. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and knew she was redder than her hair. Which was saying something. She forced herself to look at the four boys. Sirius had stopped laughing and was now smirking. Peter looked excited at the thought of what could happen next while Remus looked sort of like he had been caught in an akward situation and Lily couldn't agree more. That was why she always liked him the best. He wasn't as mean and there was a subdued side to him that Lily enjoyed. The fact that he actually cared about his work was only an added plus.

Lily paused a moment before forcing herself to look at James. There was only one word to describe the look on his face, he was elated. Lily was surprised, she had expected confident, cocky, arrogant, but not elated. But in a mere second the look was gone, replaced with a cocky grin as he tried to remain cool. Lily rolled her eyes and turned around, feeling slightly disappointed. The feeling was so small though as her anger brewed that she didn't even recognize it as what it was.

She heard four thunks as each of the marauders took their seats. She looked to the right of her and found James sitting besides her. He still had a cocky grin on his face.

"What are you doing?"

He paused in grabbing as much food as he possibly could at once to answer her. Across from him Sirius was already stuffing his face. "I'm eating. What else would I be doing?"

"You're sitting next to me."

"And?"

"_You_ are sitting next to _me._"

"I thought you would enjoy sitting next to him Evans."

"Shut it Black," Lily nearly growled. She turned back to James. "I don't want to sit next to you."

Lily stood up to leave, not wanting to deal with this anymore. But she stopped to whisper one last thing to James before leaving. "Just because of yesterday, that doesn't mean we're friends."

"But it will!" James nearly shouted. He gave her his trademark cocky grin and ruffled his hair, making surrounding girls sigh as he wasn't theirs'. Lily rolled her eyes at them and then stalked off. Alice finished her water, grabbed both her bag and Lily's, as Lily was too mad to notice she was missing it.

Alice could barely keep up with Lily. "Lily slow down!"

But Lily didn't slow down. She didn't hear Alice calling, she didn't even know where she was walking to. She mind was focused on what had just happened and she was too flustered to comprehend her surroundings. She walked straight out of the castle, ending up near the greenhouses before stopping for Alice.

"Well I'm not going to lie, I like the place you stopped," Alice tried to joke.

"You could have told me!" Lily shouted, glaring accusingly at Alice.

"What?"

"You could have told me they were right behind me!"

"I'm sorry Lily, but I wasn't paying attention," Alice said. "Honest!" she added at the look Lily was giving her.

"Fine," Lily sighed. Alice grinned.

"So, what was that last part about?" Alice rose her eyebrows suggestigly.

"Huh?"

"The part you whispered to James about yesterday?" Lily was surprised, she didn't think anyone except James had been able to hear her.

"Nothing."

"Right…"

The two girls stood in silence for a moment until Alice squealed in excitement.

"Oh my! You guys didn't snog in a closet of something yesterday did you?"

"What!" Lily couldn't believe her ears.

"Was that what you guys were talking about? You haven't been keeping this a secret have you? Because it all fits!"

"No Alice, you're out of your mind." Lily started to grow red. They hadn't snogged yesterday but they might as well have, knowing what would come in the future, in the form of a child.

"Lily if you have, then this is great! I just hope you'll tell me soon!"

"I'm going to class now Alice, you can come if you shut up," and with that Lily grabbed her bag and walked back to the castle for transfiguration.

The morning passed quickly with whispered conversation between Lily and Alice through out class. After lunch Lily found herself in the library during an open study mod. She was finishing a transfiguration essay McGonagall had assigned them about animagus forms when James walked up to her. Lily was glad no one was around to see them, she couldn't bare if people saw them together except for head duties at the moment.

"Potter," she greeted him.

"Lily, why are you calling me Potter again?"

"Because contrary to what that book says, you're still the same." James quirked his eyebrows at her.

"What's that mean?" he asked.

"It means that I can't be friends with you, let alone be in love with you." Lily noticed the flicker of hurt in his eyes, but it was gone in a flash.

"But that book-"

"That doesn't mean anything! Can't you see?"

"Not really." Lily sighed while trying to find the right words to explain.

"You're still the same. Still the same arrogant, cocky git that you were yesterday. The book doesn't change anything." Lily looked at James to see if he understood. When he didn't look like he did, she plowed on. "All that book means is one day we'll fall in love, but right now, that day isn't here."

Lily felt a little bad for James when he caught on to what she was saying. His face fell and it was like his mood instantly became depressed. Lily was surprised by the instant change in moods but didn't bother to think about it.

"Look, I'm sorry, but that's the truth. If you have nothing to say, I think you should leave. I need to finish my essay."

"I could help you," he said. Lily just stared at him.

"Please just go. I don't want to deal with this right now."

"Okay, okay. Oh, I came to tell you we're planning on reading again tonight."

Lily just stared at James. For some reason she was having a hard time comprehending what James was saying. Sure she understood what he meant about the book, it was his expression on his face that confused her. It was hopeful and a little bashful, and appolegetic and sweet, but there was no denying the cocky smirk he wore. When Lily didn't respond James added, "But if you don't want to, we can read without you, I just thought you would."

Lily instantly felt rage flare up inside of her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing from him. "You know Potter, the book's in my room. Maybe I just won't give it to you, and you won't get to know what happens!" James looked shocked. "Just leave please."

So James left, but he had a plan.

Lily walked into the common room exhausted. What with the combination of arguments with James and long tedious NEWT classes, hopping in bed and falling asleep seemed like a very good idea. Unfortunately she still had homework, Head Girl duties and reading the book to look forward too. Lily had decided to read with the Marauders tonight, she curiousity to find out what would happen next overruled her anger at James. Now all she had to do was find one of the boys and the night would be all planned out.

Lily was pulled out of her thoughts by shouts and beeping that only sounded like the girls' staircase. And to no ones' surprise James Potter came shooting down the slide that had formed. Lily felt rage bubbling inside of her. She stormed over to him and just glared. Finally she spoke.

"What are you doing!" Well, maybe it was more of a yell.

James shrugged. "What do you think? Trying to get the book."

"I wasn't serious earlier! I would have let you guys read it!" Lily didn't notice the surprise of the rest of Gryffindor that James Potter and Sirius Black wanted to read a book. She didn't notice the confusion about their conversation either.

Lily continued, "But I don't think I will now!" Lily expected James to shout back and to argue with her. What she didn't expect him to do was grip his hair in his hands for a moment before standing up and looking her in the eyes. Lily's breath caught and she had to remind herself that now wasn't the time to fall in love. Then he spoke.

"Lily," he whispered, raising his hand as if to caress her cheek before changing his mind and swinging it back and forth at his side. What surprised Lily was the feeling of almost wanting him to touch her cheek. "Why do you keep on fighting this?"

"Fighting what?"

"Us." They had gone back to speaking normally.

"Because 'Us' isn't supposed to happen." Her words shocked James and then he was overreacting, just like the old James.

"What do you mean it's not supposed to happen! You know it is! You have! to It said so!"

Confusion crossed the faces of many of the Gryffindor's faces. What James had just said didn't make any sense to any of them. They were also surprised at the turn of events that the conversation had happened upon. Sure, James and Lily were yelling, but it wasn't in rage, at least not at the moment.

Lily felt tears forming in her eyes and blinked furiously to keep them at bay. She did not want anyone, especially James Potter to see her cry. She felt frustrated, confused and overwhelmed by all that had happened in just twenty-four hours.

"How can you say that? Just like that, like it means nothing?" James looked at her shocked.

"How can _you_ say that? Making it sound like I think it's nothing? It means the world to me! And it should to you too! What about Harry? Are you just not going to try? We have a duty towards him!"

"You're right," Lily said, shocking everyone in the room. "You're right. We do have a duty to Harry. But not this! Clearly what happened, happened because it was meant to be, not because you forced it!

"We don't have much time, and you know it!" James seemed to have forgotten that they were standing in a room full of people. Not that Lily was doing much better. Lily was hoping that he wouldn't say something to give away what they were talking about more than they already had.

"This is crazy Lily! You're fighting it! I can feel you fighting it! It's supposed to be, just let it happen!"

"It means nothing Potter! Your words mean nothing at the moment. When I stand here listening to what you're saying, it means nothing!" Lily couldn't help it as a few tears started to slowly roll down her face.

"Lily, are you really hearing what I'm saying? Or can you not look past the basic meaning?"

"So you're judging me now?" James looked disbelieving.

"Okay, I'm taking back what I just sad. Do you hear what you're even saying?"

"I've had enough." Lily didn't yell, she didn't need too. James seemed to understand and for once didn't seem to want to push her past her boiling point.

"Just listen to me, please." James stared at Lily, waiting for her reaction. He watched apprehensively as she rolled her eyes before nodding her head.

"You can't keep on fighting it. That book says so," he said. Lily felt as if his eyes were piercing into her soul, ripping and shredding it to pieces as her resolve and anger and fears were all melded into one confusing and undistinguishable jumbled mess. "My only fear is, will you stop fighting before it's almost too late?"

Lily didn't know how to respond to this. She felt confused by what he meant, but at the same time it was if though her body knew what he was referring to and she just couldn't wrap her mind around it.

"Fine," she finally said. "You can read that book, but I don't want to miss it."

At that moment a loud shout was heard as the girls' stairs were once again set off and down came Sirius, clearly enjoying his ride. In his hands was the book.

"I can't believe you went through me stuff!"

Sirius only grinned and shrugged, clearly saying to Lily that he didn't really care what she thought. Lily sighed and then snatched the book out of his hands.

"I'll take that if you don't mind. Oh and James," she said as he turned to her looking hopefully, "We have Head duties." What that Lily swiftly turned and walked out the common room, leaving most people who had witnessed their conversation with a sense of confusion.


	5. The Letters From No One Part 1

**So I know I haven't updated in forever but summer just isn't a good time for me. I was only at home for a week in July and it wasn't a whole week so it sucked for updating. But it was fun. I went to Arizona, Maine, Minnesota and New Orleans! Woo hoo!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I could have come up with a 7 book series in a coffee shop… but I didn't.**

Once head duties were done Lily found herself sitting in the room of requirement with the three Marauders as Peter was still in detention. James plopped himself down on a couch and when Sirius moved to sit down beside him he was pushed away. James looked at Lily hopefully but she wished for a chair and the room provided a plush red chair similar to the ones in the Gryffindor common room.

"I'm still mad at you," she sad and she sat down as far away as possible from James. "Oh, I'm reading first," she added.

"I'll read next," put in Remus before she could start.

"Oh Remus. You're always so eager to read. Some things never change!" teased Sirius.

"Black! Shut it!" Sirius quickly grew silent at Lily's words. All three boys knew it wasn't the time to mess with her. Lily on the other hand knew the silence wouldn't last for long.

"Okay, the first chapter is titled The Letters From No One... I wonder."

"Hogwarts letter perhaps?" asked Remus.

"That's what I thought," said Lily.

"Hey me too!" shouted James joyfully. He hoped by agreeing with Lily he could get back on her good side quickly.

"YAY! HOGWARTS!" shouted Sirius.

Right as Lily was about to begin reading the chapter Sirius broke out into song. "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts. Teach us something please!"

"SIRIUS! Are you done? Because I don't know about you but I would love to read about my son."

"Our son, actually. Lily, he's my son too."

"Yes, that's what I meant. Our son."

A huge grin spread across James' face at those words. "Oh, what? It's not like I admitted that I liked you or anything. We already know we have a son together."

"Lily! Hello… are you listening to me?"

"What Sirius?"

"Of course I'm not done with the song yet! You should know that! Whether we be old and bold or young with scabby…"

But all of a sudden no noise came from Sirius' mouth. "I silenced you," said Lily. "Four year old boys need help being quiet."

"Lily, he's mastered the art of silent spell casting. Just like you. He can undo it."

"Yep, yep, yep! See I did!" Lily glared at him and Sirius instantly quailed under her look. "I'm done now."

"Why are you so annoying?"

"Because apparently I'm only four years old."

"Lily," said Remus, "just read."

"Fine," Lily rolled her eyes, "but I won't be so forgiving next time."

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment.**

Sirius' fists clenched in anger and Remus gave a low growl, showing the werewolf in him.

**By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

"Poor lady," Lily said with a look of concern on her face.

"Idiot, why does Harry have to be related to him?" asked James.

"I agree!" Sirius shouted.

"Do you just wait for those moments when you can yell?"

"Yep Lily! I do!" Lily rolled her eyes.

"You'll get used to it eventually," Remus added, worried for her sanity.

"When? You keep on telling me that but it doesn't happen!"

"Can we just read?" asked James. "I want to read about my son!"

Lily continued.

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day.**

"Sounds like my brother," said Sirius. "Most ten year olds don't have gangs unless they're evil!"

"Your brother can't be evil Sirius," said Lily.

"He's in Slytherin. That's enough for me."

Lily didn't want to argue with Sirius. She was still in a bad mood from earlier and didn't have the patience. Besides, she knew what it was like not to get along with a sibling. The anger and hurt, the ache in a person's heart as they watched someone they love walk away without a backwards fiancé. She didn't want to push him on something such as that.

**Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"Figures," muttered Remus.

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.**

"What! I sweat if he touches my kid I will come from the grave and torment him until his dying day!" At this pronouncement James jumped up from his seat and raised his hand in a fist.

Remus and Sirius quickly followed. "Me too!" Sirius yelled.

"And don't forget about me!" exclaimed Remus.

Lily just looked up at the three young men standing in a line with one fist raised in the air as in salute. Then suddenly she burst out laughing.

"You guys are crazy!" Secretly though she was touched by their actions.

"So you forgive me then?" asked James hopefully. Lily stopped laughing.

"I didn't say that. Besides, how does being called crazy make it seem like you're forgiven?" Then she let slip a smile. "But maybe a little bit. Let's just read."

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house,**

"That's my boy! He's smart." James interrupted.

"But he didn't get it from you!" Sirius and Remus replied.

"Thanks guys," grumbled James.

**wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope.**

"Yay Hogwarts!"

"Sirius, shut up!" This time though it was Remus who lost it.

**When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley.**

James seemed frozen. "They, they didn't tell him."

"James, what did you expect? The last chapter clearly did not give me any hope what so ever that my sister and her stupid husband, well boyfriend at the moment would actually tell Harry the truth."

"Well look on the bright side! It still seems Harry won't be with Dudley," Remus added trying to break some of the tension in the room.

**Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings.**

"Yes! Away from Harry! But a weird name… Smeltings! HA!" All three just stared at Sirius.

"You done?" asked Lily.

"Yep!"

**Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"Why?" asked James.

"No idea! He's going to SMELTINGS! HA HA!" Sirius couldn't seem to get over that.

Remus turned towards Lily. "Just read or we'll never get through the book."

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

"He better not…" Lily's glare scared all three boys and they almost pitied Dudley for being on the receiving end (even if it's over ten years in the future) until they remembered all he had done to Harry over the years.

"**No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

All four teens burst out laughing, each imagining the dumbfounded look on Dudley's face.

"Yes my kid's a genius!"

"But not from you!" Sirius and Remus chanted.

"Can you stop saying that?" asked James.

"Nope!" Remus flashed him his biggest smile.

"We're thinking of having a song made!" shouted Sirius in glee.

"About what?"

"About how Harry got all his best traits from Lily, just to annoy you."

"Lily laughed before adding, "I like the sound of this song. Maybe it'll be a huge hit someday?"

"Ouch, I didn't know you could be so cruel… Would you like me to read for you Lily?" James acted like he would wrestle her to the ground for the book.

"No! I'm done, I swear!"

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's.**

"And what a splendid evening that will be…" Sirius sarcastically added.

**Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual.**

"Huh. Interesting isn't it Sirius? It isn't as bad as usual! Imagine that!"

"Just keep on reading Lily."

**It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"Eww," said Remus, wearing a disgusted look on his face.

"You sound like a girl! Like one in my dorm or something… kind of scary."

Remus glared at Lily who smiled back.

"I really," but Remus was cut off by James. "NO! THE ATROCITY! THE VIOLATION! MY POOR KID SHOULDN'T BE MADE TO SUFFER THAT WAY WITH STALE OLD CAKE!"

At once two silencing charms were placed on James, sent by Lily and Remus. The third, from Sirius, caused a massive amount of stale cake to be shoved down James' throat with his arms tied behind his back.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family I his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

"Sounds like such a pleasant school," joked Sirius.

"I am so glad Harry wasn't sent there!" Lily sighed in relief.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

All four teenagers burst our laughing.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning**

"Probably stupid Vernon Dursley. I bet he smells like slime," said James.

"Oh trust me, he smells worse then slime," Lily said. The three boys looked at her in shock.

"What? It's true! And you would be saying the same thing, no wait, probably worse things if you had to spend two whole weeks with him in your house the past summer!"

**when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink.**

"You know how many jokes I could make about that?" asked Sirius with a mischievous grin on his face.

"And I'm sure they're all dirty so shut up," said Lily.

**He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.**

"**What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

"Stupid rule! How is someone supposed to learn if they can't ask questions?"

"Good old Moony! You'll be a teacher for sure!" James joked.

"The horror of a Marauder being a teacher! I can't stand it!"

"Shut up Sirius! What's with the nicknames?"

"I will not be a teacher! So Padfoot shut up!" Sirius immediately shut up.

"I repeat… what's with the nicknames?"

"Just keep reading Lily," said James. Lily was about to protest but the look on James' face convinced her to let it go for the moment.

"**Your new school uniform," she said.**

"EWW!"

**Harry looked in the bowl again.**

"**Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"You kid's stupid Prongs!" James sent Sirius flying into the wall at that comment.

"It was a joke stupid!" James roared.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"Why is everyone calling my son stupid?"

"I thought he was _our_ son? Don't worry, I can get Petunia back over break."

"I'm helping Lily! Like you said, he's _our_ son."

"Fine." Remus and Sirius were shocked into silence at the prospect of Lily and James working together, at Lily's house no less.

"**I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

"I seriously doubt that," said James.

**Harry seriously doubted this,**

"That's strange," said Remus.

**but thought it best not to argue.**

"That's my boy. Smart kid," said James with pride in his voice. Lily sat watching him, amazed at how the role of being a father fit so well with his personality. To say she was shocked was really an understatement.

**He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High – like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

"I would usually find that funny, but not if it's Harry." Lily felt immediate gratification as James and Remus nodded their heads in agreement.

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

**They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.**

"THIS IS IT!" screamed Sirius in joy. The other three were all to excited themselves to yell at him.

"**Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"**Make Harry get it."**

"**Get the mail, Harry."**

"**Make Dudley get it."**

"Oh come on already!" yelled Sirius.

"**Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

"Oh I hate that man!" muttered Lily.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and – **_**a letter for Harry.**_

"Yes!" Sirius yelled. The others were all excited and waiting in anticipation.

**Harry picked it up and stared at it,**

"Just open it already!"

**his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him.**

A tear rolled down Lily's cheek.

**Who would?**

"Friends?" suggested Remus.

**He had no friends,**

"I would die without my friends…" said James with so much conviction it took Lily by surprise. She had no idea how strong the four Marauders were connected.

**no other relatives,**

Lily felt like she couldn't breathe. "My parents…" she managed to get our.

James on the other hand had gone white. Sirius waited a few minutes for them to recover before saying, "If I remember correctly they mentioned this fact in the first chapter…"

"I think we were all to preoccupied with the fact Lily and James will be dead to notice anything else," pointed out Remus.

**he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**The Cupboard under the Stairs**

**4 Privet Drive**

**Little Whinging**

**Surrey**

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

"Yay Hogwarts!" shouted Sirius.

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter **_**H.**_

"Yay Hogwarts!" This time James joined in.

"**Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"He's clearly not a man of humor," said Remus.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

"I have a bad feeling about this…" muttered Lily.

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.**

"**Marge's ill," he informed Aunt petunia. "Ate a funny whelk…"**

"**Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

"Stupid kid!"

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"**That's **_**mine**_**!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster then a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.**

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

"They're overreacting," muttered Sirius.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious!" snapped Lily.

"Why are you being so bitchy?" asked Sirius.

"Sorry, I just had a feeling something like this would happen."

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!"**

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"_**I**_** want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's **_**mine**_**."**

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

**Harry didn't move.**

"**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"Way to tell him son!" roared James in approval.

"**Let **_**me**_** see it!" demanded Dudley.**

"**OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks**

"Unhand my child!" roared James.

**and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address – how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"**Watching – spying – might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want ---"**

"I can't believe they won't let him go! This is crazy!" said Remus.

"I'm not surprised…" said Lily.

"Oh… they're going to pay…" James and Sirius promptly put their head together to form a plan of attack.

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer…. Yes, that's best… we won't do anything…."**

"**But –"**

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

"I HATE THEM!" James yelled as loud as he could.

"I'm with him on this one Lily, even if it is your sister we're talking about," agreed Remus.

"Vernon's a cruel man, but she's worse. She's getting revenge." A memory flashed through Lily's mind that she had repressed for years, and the three boys could see something different in her eyes. They were all curious by what she meant but Remus and James could tell she didn't want to talk about it.

Sirius on the other hand asked, "For what?"

"Huh? Oh… nothing… nothing at all. You know what? I have an idea." The boys were startled by her sudden change in moods. There was a certain glint in her eyes as she walked towards the door. She called out, "Stay here!" Just as the door began to shut she held it open and summoned the book with her wand.

They boys were flabbergasted. They did as Lily asked though and waited for her to come back. "That was kind of strange…" noted Sirius. James and Remus nodded in agreement.

They decided to fill up this time by inventing pranks for the Dursleys. By the time Lily came back they had a whole list prepared to wreck havoc on the Dursleys' lives.

"Okay, I got everything worked out," she said as she entered the room.

"What did you do exactly?" asked Remus.

"I'm not going to tell you right now, but you'll find out tomorrow I promise. Unfortunately that means we can't read anymore tonight." Cries of disappointment filled the room but were silenced when Remus asked, "Where's the book?"

"Not here, but I promise it's safe."

"Well I guess we should go to bed…" Remus hinted. They all stood up and walked out of the room. The boys turned right, back towards the Gryffindor common room, but Lily turned left instead.

"Where are you going Lily?" asked James.

"Just checking the castle one more time for head duties. You guys go ahead."

They walked off but Lily wasn't checking the castle for head duties. She finished up her plan about an hour and a half later and then crept up back to bad. She made sure not to wake Alice as she didn't want to answer any questions about earlier that day.

As she fell asleep she thought about her conversation, if it could be called that, with James. They were both so stubborn; it was hard to convince him that she was right. Love, true love didn't just happen because the book said it did. It would take time, and she was fine with that. James would just have to accept fate as well and let things play out naturally.

**********

The next morning when Alice woke up Lily wasn't in her bed. Alice hadn't seen Lily since her yelling match with James the day before. She was really confused by what they had been talking about and she was very intrigued to know about the book.

Alice walked down to the great hall but she didn't see Lily anywhere. She had the feeling she was avoiding her. But it couldn't last long, they had class together.

However Alice did see the four Marauders eating together. Jams, Sirius and Remus seemed to be in the middle of an urgent but private discussion. Peter didn't seem to notice anything, as he was totally engrossed in his food.

Alice would have asked them if they knew where Lily was but she didn't get along with them very well, being Lily's best friend and all. She could get along with Remus at times, as he wasn't so bad as the others, but even him she tried to stay away from just because of association. At one time she had swooned at the sight of Sirius but that had been years ago and long before she had met Frank. Frank was in his second year out of school. They constantly were sending letters to each other and almost every Hogsmeade weekend he was able to get away from Auror training, if just for a little while.

She sat down next to Miranda, one of the other seventh year Gryffindor girls whom Lily and she shared a room with. They weren't terribly close but Lily and Alice called her a friend. Miranda was talking to Sara, a Ravenclaw seventh year about a spell for controlling frizzy hair so Alice just tuned them out.

Her mind strayed back to Lily. Something was going on and she was determined to find out what.

Alice had double Herbology before lunch today. A class Lily wasn't taking, so Alice would have to wait until after lunch to talk with Lily. She walked down to Greenhouse 3, her mind far from plants. Luckily Alice was a wiz at Herbology and it required no thinking.

Alice couldn't find Lily at lunch either so she trudged off to Defense Against the Dark Arts determined to talk to Lily after class. They sat next to each other in class but Alice knew the teacher would have their skin if they didn't pay attention. But as Alice entered the classroom she didn't see Lily. Now Alice really started to worry. She hadn't seen Lily all day and she knew Lily would never miss class. She decided to check the hospital wing first thing when class was over but just as class was about to start, Lily hustled in and sat down besides her. Lily flashed Alice a smile, as if everything was normal before quickly getting her things out for notes.

"Where were you today? I haven't seen you since yesterday evening!" Alice scribbled onto a piece of paper. She watched as Lily considered her answer before replying.

"I've just been busy with something."

"Like what?" Alice wrote back.

"I can't tell you yet, but I will eventually." Alice felt frustrated by this answer. She felt like her friend was keeping something from her and it wasn't a good feeling.

**So originally I wasn't planning on having this be two different parts, but I changed my mind because I really wanted to update this today! I hope you like it!**


	6. The Letters From No One Part 2

Lily felt excited as she walked towards the Room of Requirement that night. The boys were already there and she couldn't wait to tell them. As she rounded the corner she smiled because there, by the door to the Room of Requirement just as she planned stood Professor Dumbledore. What wasn't planned was for Professor McGonagall to be standing next to him.

"Hello Ms. Evans. I hope you don't mind but I brought along Professor McGonagall."

"Not at all Sir."

Professor Dumbledore beamed before continuing, "I filled her in up to where we've all read in the book."

"Well I guess we should go read then."

When Lily walked into the room Sirius jumped up in excitement but froze with a look of horror on his face as the two professors followed her in. "Oh come on Lily! Was this your plan? To rat us out?" Sirius whined.

"It's okay," Lily assured the boys. "My plan wasn't the two of them," she waved her hand at the professors, "but them." At that moment Petunia Evans and Vernon Dursley appeared in the room.

"I'm confused," stated James.

"I'll explain if everyone would take a seat." She took a breath, glancing at everyone before continuing. "Last night I figured out the best punishment for Petunia and Vernon would be to sit here in Hogwarts, the place they despise, and read the books with us. The problem was I had to get Professor Dumbledore's permission to bring them here. That's what I was doing when I left last night. I gave him the book and he has read as far as I have. Professor Dumbledore then resent the book here and I summoned my sister and her fiancé. Trust me, they weren't happy about it."

"Of course we weren't! And we still aren't!" grumbled Vernon.

"Just be quiet!" snapped James. "You deserve it!"

"But we haven't done anything! If you need to punish us, do it later!"

"To late Vernon, they'll be dead," Petunia managed to say. Lily wasn't sure if she imagined it, but Petunia seemed to look remorseful. Lily convinced herself it was a trick of the light.

She continued, "So they read up to the same point and here we are. They'll be summoned every time we read. I will allow pranks to be played on them as long as they are harmless and don't distract from the reading too much."

"What? You didn't tell us that! I want out of here!" yelled Vernon.

"Too bad," said Remus.

"I think I will finish this chapter," said Professor McGonagall.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

"I still can't believe the two of you have a son together," said McGonagall.

"I can't believe they're dead!" shouted Sirius.

"And I can't believe Harry sleeps in a closet!" shouted James, glaring at Petunia and Vernon.

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"**

"**No one.**

"That's bullshit! Just give him the letter!" shouted Sirius glaring at Vernon once again but he quailed under the glare of professor McGonagall.

**It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

"**It was **_**not**_** a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon,**

"Oh… you better not treat my son like that! Or I'll haunt you forever…" threatened James.

**and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"Oh I'll bet," muttered Sirius.

"Hey! I do not appreciate you guys harassing me!" yelled Vernon.

"Well I don't appreciate the way you treat my son," said James.

"Boys, please allow professor McGonagall to continue reading," suggested Dumbledore.

"**Er – yes, Harry – about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking… you're really getting a bit big for it… we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

"Well that was nice…" said Lily.

"More like a bribe…" muttered James but he shut up after Lily glared at him.

"**Why?" said Harry.**

"**Don't ask questions!"**

"I hate that rule!" said Remus.

"Always a teacher Moony," teased Sirius.

"There is nothing wrong with being a teacher Mr. Black," reprimanded McGonagall.

"What's with the nicknames?" asked a frustrated Lily.

"Not that question again!" moaned Sirius.

"I wonder…" mused Dumbledore.

"What?" said a panicked Remus. He didn't want his friends to get in trouble. And frankly, he wasn't ready to tell Lily his secret yet.

"Drop it Lily," muttered James, noticing Remus' discomfort.

"Nothing…" said Dumbledore, a light twinkle in his eyes.

"Can I read now?" asked McGonagall.

"I'm confused…" said Petunia.

"We don't want to know dear," suggested Vernon.

"I hate this!" yelled Lily.

**snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom.**

"Really? _Really?"_ James just stared at Petunia and Vernon in disbelief.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room.**

"Once gain, I say REALLY?"

**He sat down on the bed and stared around him Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

"HA!" shouted Sirius.

"It's not like you're any better Padfoot," pointed out Remus.

"If you're not going to tell me why you use such weird nicknames then stop using them!" Lily frustratingly said. "And James, don't you dare say really again!" she warned as he started to speak.

"I wasn't going to!" he said defensively. "I was just going to point out that I have no idea what most of those things are."

"Well no surprises there…" remarked Vernon.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well I didn't take you as very smart and I was right."

"Well I'm sorry if all these things are Muggle items!"

"What's a Muggle? You sound delusional."

"You are a Muggle."

"Are you threatening me?" roared Vernon Dursley. Petunia cut in, "Dear sit down NOW. A Muggle is a non-magical person like you or me."

Lily was the only one who heard the bitterness in her sister's voice, yet she guessed she was the only one who really expected it.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't **_**want**_** him in there… I **_**need**_** that room… make him get out…."**

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

"This sucks. It shouldn't be like this," said Lily.

"Sorry," squeaked Petunia.

"No, I mean he should be living with his parents, with me and James." Lily quickly brushed off the tears rolling down her face.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back.**

"I'm impressed. You did a good thing not giving in. You seem to spoil that child too much." Vernon and Petunia seemed to shrink a bit under McGonagall's scrutiny.

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall.**

"Us too," said Sirius.

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick**

"Does he ever put that down?" asked Remus in mortification.

**all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive --'"**

"Professor Dumbledore, you sure never miss anything, do you?" asked Sirius.

"On occasion Mr. Black, I must say, but I rarely do."

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

"I sure would have loved to see that," remarked James.

"Just let him read his letter!" cried Sirius.

"I hope none of the furniture or house got destroyed," fretted Petunia.

"some things never do change," chuckled Lily.

"**Go to your cupboard – I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley – go – just go."**

"Hey! No fair!" whined Sirius.

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter.**

"One guess!" shouted Sirius.

"I think we all know already Padfoot," pointed our Remus. "And don't ask Lily."

"Ah, no fun…"

**Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"This does make me wonder, how do you know he didn't get his letter? You weren't watching the house were you?" asked Petunia.

"I assure you no, I wasn't. I have my ways though."

"Do you realize that you're talking in the past for something in the future? How funny is that?" remarked Sirius.

"Professor Dumbledore is the most powerful and greatest wizard of our time," said Lily, explaining things to Petunia and purposefully ignoring Sirius.

"Even Voldemort is afraid of him, and he's inspired more fear in people than any other dark witch or wizard ever," added Remus.

"You're being too kind…" muttered Dumbledore.

"You're being too modest Sir," said James.

"I have to agree with the students on this one Albus," added McGonagall.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

"Oh no! He sounds too much like his father!" cried Lily.

"Hey! I'll let you know that's a good thing," said James.

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door –**

"**AAAAARRRGH!"**

"What was that?" asked a startled Petunia. No one had an answer.

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat – something **_**alive**_**!**

"Okay…" said James.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with laughter as he figured it out.

"Oh no… it can't be!" Lily shuddered at the thought.

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

"Why did I have to be right?" groaned Lily.

"He stepped on my face…" said Vernon. "You son is really pushing it!"

"Hey! Be careful what you say!" yelled James.

"Stop it," warned Dumbledore. He said it quietly but everyone knew by the tone of his voice not to push it.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea.**

"My son is not your slave," snarled James. Lily hit him.

**Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap.**

"Just give it to him!" yelled Sirius.

**Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"Wow…" said Remus," looks like the Professors are getting a little desperate."

"I guess we are…" mused Dumbledore.

"If they just gave him his letter," mumbled Sirius.

"**I want –" he began, but uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

All of a sudden Vernon's hair was a shocking electric blue. Petunia jumped up in surprise while the three Marauders started to snicker.

"What did you do to him?" shrieked Petunia. Vernon still had no idea what was going on. Remus conjured up a mirror and handed it to him.

"You guys are crazy! No wonder we don't want Harry to be a wizard!" boomed Vernon.

"No really!" said professor McGonagall, standing up to reverse the spell, but Vernon and Petunia backed away from her.

"Lily, we want to talk to you in private," said Petunia. An extra room had appeared at her wish.

"Fine," sighed Lily.

"But leave your wand here," growled Vernon. Lily followed them into the small room, which expanded at her command. She stood staring at them; waiting for one to speak.

"This is your fault," growled Vernon.

"My fault?" asked Lily is disbelief. "I didn't do this to you."

"You gave them permission to prank us," pointed out Petunia.

"I was helping you! Look they prank everyone like this. Trust me… I would know. But they would have hurt you if I hadn't stepped in and said that. They despise you."

"Can we just go home?" asked Petunia.

"No, but I will change his hair back if you let me?"

"Fine, but away from them," grumbled Vernon. Lily went and grabbed her wand before setting his hair back. When they walked back into the room, Sirius was sporting a head of electric blue hair. Apparently no one had informed him of this development so Lily said, "Nice hair Sirius."

"What did you do to my hair?" he asked as he noticed Vernon. He grabbed the mirror from the table and grinned. "I think I look rather sexy with blue hair if I do say so myself."

Lily gave Vernon and Petunia a look as they all sat down and McGonagall proceeded to read.

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

"Oh come on!" complained James.

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't **_**deliver**_** them they'll just give up."**

"I'm starting to disagree with myself," said Vernon.

"I think it's weird to be referred to as Aunt Petunia."

"**I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon,**

"Now I can agree with that," said Vernon.

**trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

Everyone laughed as Vernon blushed.

"Now I can agree with you! You're certainly not like us," said Remus.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

"Wow…" said Petunia.

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"That's it, you're crazy," joked Sirius.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand.**

"I thought they already had!" said a shocked Petunia.

**Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two-dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt petunia through the living room window.**

"Now that's the way to do it!" chuckled Remus.

"Why thank you Mr. Lupin," said a smiling Dumbledore.

**While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

"**Who on earth wants to talk to **_**you**_** this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"That kid has _great_ tact, doesn't he?" asked Sirius.

"Just like you Padfoot, just like you," joked James.

"Thanks Prongs, really can feel the support."

"Oh! I give up! I don't want to know anymore," said Lily.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"**No post on Sundays,"**

"HA! Not in this world!" shouted Sirius.

**he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today –"**

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one –**

"You can do it Harry! Catch one!" shouted an excited Sirius.

"**Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

"Hey!" shouted James.

"No! How long is this going to go on?" wailed Sirius.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

"This is a little crazy," said Lily.

**He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue.**

"Dangerous? How about hilarious?" snickered Sirius.

**Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back sear; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going.**

"My guess is Vernon doesn't even know where they're going," said Remus.

**Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

"Well my guess is Vernon has gone crazy," sated Sirius.

"I think they get the point," said Vernon, glaring at him.

"**Shake 'em off… shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

"See! I told you!" Sirius shouted gleefully.

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day.**

"This time Lily became mad. "You better not starve my child!" she yelled.

**By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering….**

"Wondering what exactly?" asked Sirius.

"Oh, you did not just ask that!" said Lily.

"Maybe I did."

"And maybe you're an idiot?"

"Lily, just ignore him," suggested James.

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day.**

"Oh the horror! The shame!" yelled Sirius.

"Why exactly is he acting like this?" Lily asked Remus as Sirius rambled on.

"Lily, Sirius and bad food just don't mix."

"What has the world come to?"

"Mr. Black, I must ask you to refrain your yelling so I may continue reading the story," said Professor McGonagall.

"I have to say, I think I'm with Sirius on this one. I can't believe I ate that!" said a disgusted Petunia.

**They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

"'**Scuse me, but it one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

"Just let him read his letter!" Sirius said in frustration.

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**Room 17**

**Railview Hotel**

**Cokeworth**

"Doesn't matter where you go Vernon. Professor Dumbledore will find you," remarked Remus.

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"No! Will this cruelty never end?" cried Sirius.

"You know, this is really starting to piss me off. How much longer is this going to take?" agreed James.

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly,**

"Finally a good idea!" yelled Sirius. "And give him his letter!"

**hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again.**

"He's mad," commented Sirius.

**The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"See! Even the kid thinks so!" shouted Sirius.

"Well, I will admit I do sound a little crazy," said Vernon.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.**

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.**

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television**_**."**

"Oh stop whining," grumbled Remus. Everyone just stared at him. "What? I hate whiners, especially when they have nothing to whine about. There's plenty of people who have it much worse than Dudley has, I guarantee that."

James, Sirius and the Professors all nodded sympathetically, knowing Remus' secret.

"Funny isn't it? How the people with nothing to complain about always do? And the people with everything to complain about never do?" said James.

"I'd call it more ironic than funny," said Dumbledore.

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it **_**was**_** Monday – and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television –**

"That's it. We are NOT raising our child to be like this Vernon. I won't accept it!" Petunia declared.

**then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

"Yes! The perfect year! When you get to go to HOGWARTS!" shouted Sirius gleefully.

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun –**

"Oh, great…" grumbled James.

**last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

James glared at Petunia and Vernon. "You give your son 39 presents, but crap to my son?" Vernon and Petunia shrunk in their seats in fear.

"James…" McGonagall warned.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

"Anything that makes you smile in this book cannot be good," said James.

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine.**

"Oh no!" groaned Lily and Petunia at the same time.

**One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"**Storm forecast for tonight" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.**

"OH you have got to be joking!" Petunia said to Vernon. "You're making me ride in that?"

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces.**

"Oh my poor baby," sighed Lily. She saw Petunia look at her. "And you too," she added quickly.

**After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

"Doesn't that sound lovely?" Sirius asked dryly.

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up**

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

James glared at Vernon.

Remus growled, "That is so not funny.

"Sorry," Vernon squeaked.

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail.**

"HA!" laughed Sirius.

**Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

"Don't worry Harry. Everything will work out!" assured Remus.

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door,**

"I swear, you better no make us sleep there…" warned Petunia shooting a glare at Vernon.

**and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"My poor baby," said Lily, wishing she could comfort him.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

"Sending you another letter at Hogwarts!" shouted Sirius.

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside.**

"What" shrieked Petunia.

**He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

Everyone laughed at the thought.

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that?**

"Hmm… I wonder…" mused Dumbledore.

**And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

"I'm getting worried now," said Petunia.

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty second… twenty… ten… nine – maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him–**

"That would be his father in him," Lily remarked. The three Marauders laughed.

**three… two… one…**

"Yay!" shouted Sirius.

**BOOM.**

"What was that?" shrieked Petunia.

"Calm down and we'll find out," said Remus.

"But… but… this could be some kind of monster, or something…"

"Petunia…" Vernon said, grabbing her hand.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said McGonagall.

"Three guesses to who's at the door," said a grinning Lily. Dumbledore took the book from McGonagall and flipped the page, giving a satisfied smile.

"That's no fair Lily. It could be anyone!" whined Sirius.

"It's Hagrid, you idiot," pointed out Remus.

"Oh… well let's keep on reading!"


	7. The Keeper of the Keys

**Okay, I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine sadly.**

Dumbledore cleared his throat and everyone turned to listen as he began the next chapter.

"The title of the fourth chapter is The Keeper of the Keys.

"Hagrid!" yelled Sirius joyfully.

"We already knew that Padfoot."

"Shut up Prongs and let me celebrate in being right."

"But you weren't right," pointed out Remus.

"You don't know that! Maybe I was just pretending and acting stupid."

"You don't need to act stupid Sirius, you just are," said Lily.

"Why do you guys keep on talking?" asked Sirius, quickly changing the subject. "Let Dumbledore read, GEEZ!"

Everyone just rolled their eyes.

**BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

"**Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

"He sure sounds stupid," remarked James.

"Don't call my son stupid," growled Vernon.

"Well take better care of my son…" James threatened.

"Hey!" Lily yelled. "Be nice."

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands –**

"Like that will do much against Hagrid," commented Remus.

"What do you mean?" said Vernon.

"You'll see."

**now they knew what had been in the long, think package he had brought with them.**

"**Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you – I'm armed!"**

"HA!" laughed Sirius.

**There was a pause. Then –**

**SMASH!**

"Yes! Shouted the Marauders. Lily just smiled, silently laughing at the horror-stricken Vernon and Petunia. Even Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eye. Only McGonagall was shaking her head at Hagrid in disapproval.

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off in hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

"A Hagrid… doesn't he make the world a better place?" asked Sirius.

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"And that's Hagrid," Sirius said in satisfaction.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

"Be afraid… be very afraid…" Sirius warned in a low voice, looking at Vernon and Petunia.

McGonagall gave him a stern look.

"**Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's no been an easy journey…."**

"Please, remind us again what they were supposed to be afraid of," Lily said, smirking at Sirius. "A cup of tea was it?" Everyone laughed.

**He stored over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

"Of course he would be…" joked Sirius.

"Hey! Be nice to my son!" shouted Vernon.

"Well be nice to Harry!"

"Yeah! Be nice to my son!" James yelled.

"**Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

"Now, that's a way to describe him," said a chuckling Remus.

"What did you say about my son?" demanded a red Vernon.

"Well your wife is the one who said you need to change the way your son eats…" mentioned Lily, which shut Vernon up.

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

"**An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

"**Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."**

"Just like the picture on the front!" shouted Sirius.

"Yes, it comforts me to know that artists in the future haven't lost their touch to depict people as they really are," said Lily sarcastically.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

"Can we hear it?" asked an excited Sirius.

Remus just glanced at him.

"**I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"**Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune,"**

"You know, that fits you pretty well…" joked James. Sirius laughed.

"How dare you insult me?" Vernon was sending the best glare at James that he could, but after countless years of messing around in McGonagall's class, it didn't bother him.

**said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

"And that's how Hagrid does it," said a satisfied Remus.

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

"So can we hear…"

"Mr. Black, I hope I do not hear you finish that sentence," reprimanded McGonagall.

"**Anyway – Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

"That doesn't sound too appetizing…" said a disgusted Petunia.

"Truthfully, his cooking isn't the best," mentioned Lily.

"Are you kidding Evans? It's like eating rocks!"

"I was trying to be polite Black! Sorry if that's not a skill your parents ever taught you!" Lily immediately regretted saying that as Sirius' face clouded into a scowl and he seemed to sink farther into his chair.

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with **_**Happy Birthday Harry**_** written on it in green icing.**

"Oh that's so nice of Hagrid!" said Lily.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

"Harry!" reprimanded Lily. "You need to be polite!"

"Hey! I don't blame him. His whole life is changing right now," said James. "Besides, he's talking to Hagrid, who won't notice, much less care."

"He does have a point," mumbled Sirius around the piece of chocolate cake he was stuffing into his mouth. "What?" he said in protest against the look Lily was giving him. "I became hungry!"

**The giant chuckled.**

"See!" said James.

"**True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

"How big is this man exactly?" asked Petunia.

"Huge!" said Sirius.

"Gargantuan!" added James.

"Like a giant," added Remus.

"**What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

"You know I wouldn't mind 'summat stonger' right now either…" mumbled Sirius to James. The two shared a grin. Unfortunately for them, everyone else in the room heard them.

"James, you're Head Boy!" screeched Lily.

"Mr. Black, don't think I won't double your detention for Saturday afternoon," McGonagall warned.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore's voice remained serene unlike the two women's, yet James seemed to quell once hearing his name, "if you do not set a positive example for the students at this school, I will have to replace you with a more suitable student for the Head Boy position.

"Yes sir," James responded. Then he turned to Lily who was still glaring at the two boys. "And just in my defense, Sirius said it, not me."

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted.**

"So would I…" said Sirius.

"Maybe we should have named you Piggy!" joked Remus.

"Watch it Moony!"

**He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there.**

"Did Hagrid do magic? I thought he wasn't allowed!" exclaimed Sirius.

"He's not," a disapproving McGonagall replied. Dumbledore just chuckled.

**It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.**

"How's he holding so much stuff anyways?" asked a curious Petunia.

"Why did he even bother asking us to make it if he already has everything?" grumbled Vernon.

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

"Smart move Vernon," said Sirius.

"But Hagrid can be trusted! Even if it's not the best food ever…" said Lily.

"I'm not talking about Hagrid! Dudley's fat enough!"

"That's the last straw!" yelled Vernon. He stood up, glaring at Sirius.

"Vernon! Sit back down!" Petunia said, tugging on his sleeve. "I agree with him! Our son seems too big!"

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

"**Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"And look who agrees with you Padfoot," James said, "Hagrid of all people."

"Hagrid's just big in general," pointed out Remus.

"Height, width and volume," said Lily.

"Huh?" all three Marauders asked. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall also looked confused.

"Something we Muggles learn," said Petunia.

"But Lily's not a Muggle," pointed out James.

"But I was, and I went to Muggle school for six years before coming to Hogwarts."

"You had six extra years of school? You poor, poor person," stated Sirius.

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant.**

"Oh no," said Sirius. "Sounds like true love."

"Sirius! I'll kick you out if I have to!" yelled Lily.

**Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

"Of course he doesn't, because of those two…" mumbled Sirius to James.

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

"**Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts – yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

"Except he doesn't because you two!" James yelled, pointing his finger at Petunia and Vernon.

"Now really!" exclaimed McGonagall.

"Quiet everyone!" yelled Lily. "Now hear me out before anyone just starts blowing everyone up. I think this book was brought for a higher purpose."

"Huh?" said a confused Sirius.

"We're already changing because of this book and I think that's the purpose. If you think about it, I'm actually starting to get along with the Marauders, which I would never have thought possible in my wildest dreams! And the two of you are in Hogwarts with us, which is even crazier! And you want to change your son… the point I'm trying to make is, should we be so quick to judge the people in this room based on what they do in the book? Because clearly they're different people."

"Well said! I couldn't have said it any better. It seems Lily has brought up a very interesting idea that I think all of you should consider for another time," said Dumbledore. "Now does anyone have any objection to my reading?"

"Fine…" mumbled Sirius.

"Yeah, sure," said James.

Vernon nodded.

"**Er – no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

"**Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"_**Sorry?"**_** barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't getting' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"**

"**All what?" asked Harry.**

"**ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered.**

"Of course he would," sighed McGonagall.

"**Now wait jus' one second!"**

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

"You know," said Sirius to Vernon, "your other selves really need to work on that whole being brave thing."

"**Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy – this boy! – knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?"**

"Well, that's a nice way to put it," joked Sirius.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

"**I know **_**some **_**things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff."**

"Yeah! He knows some stuff!" James said in defense.

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About **_**our**_** world, I mean. **_**Your**_** world. **_**Yer parents' world."**_

"A very wonderful world!" shouted James.

"The best!" added Sirius.

"The only world worth mentioning at a time like this," said Remus.

"You guys are crazy," pointed out Lily.

"**What world?"**

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

"Of course he would," said Sirius.

"Now that would be something to see… Hagrid exploding!" joked Remus.

"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one in the group," Lily said.

"Now that really," but Remus was cut off by James.

"You don't think I'm smart! How could you Lily? I am smart I tell you! I am smart!"

"Shut up James."

"**DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble."**

"Were you trying to do a spell?" asked James.

"No! I don't know what I was doing!" said Vernon.

"What type of word is mimblewimble anyways?" asked a confused Sirius.

"It's not any stranger than any of your words!"

**Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. **

"**But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're **_**famous**_**. You're **_**famous."**_

"That's so cool! That you're famous," said Sirius. But seeing the look on Lily's face he quickly backpedaled. "Not the reason why though! Trust me, I don't want you dead or anything, but you'll be famous."

"Nice Sirius," said Remus dryly.

"So it's okay that we're dead because we're famous?" Lily said, glaring at Sirius.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"Well then how did you mean it? I know we don't get along that well, but…"

"What? You think I would ever wish you dead Evans? You do you think I am? Because I assure you I'm not like my family. And what about James? He's my best friend… I don't know what I'm going to do when you guys die…" Sirius' voice barely cracked but only the other Marauders who knew him well enough noticed.

"Okay! Okay…" Lily said, tears in her eyes. "I know you didn't mean it the way you sounded, but watch what you say. Because let me tell you that hearing about your own death, when you aren't going to get to know your son, when you know it's not that far in the future… it's not an easy thing to do!"

Everyone sat there stunned for a minute until Sirius pulled Lily into a hug, which was even more surprising. Looking at James Sirius said, with tears forming in his own eyes, "I really don't want you to die. You're my best friend, my brother…"

"I know man, I know…" There was silence for a moment as Lily cleared her eyes and everyone sat back down again. For a moment Lily and petunia locked eyes, but Petunia glanced away quickly, confusing Lily.

"**What? My – my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"**Yeh don' know… yeh don' know…" Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

"**Yeh don' know what yeh **_**are**_**?" he said finally.**

"No," Lily said, fixing a stare on Vernon and Petunia.

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

"**Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

"Sirius groaned in frustration. "Why is this taking so long?"

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him;**

"Yes! Go Hagrid!" James said happily. "What I still don't understand though is why neither Sirius, Remus or Peter took in Harry… I'm sure we made Sirius the godfather."

**when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

"**You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

"**Kept **_**what**_** from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

"That you're a wizard Harry!" Sirius yelled.

"You do know you're talking to a book don't you?" asked Remus.

"**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

"**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry – yer a wizard."**

James and Sirius both leapt up in joy. "Yes!" Even Remus and Lily were chuckling at the two of them. But all eight people in the room were shocked when all of a sudden a boy with messy black hair and glasses dropped into the room. Everyone froze. The boy slowly got to his feet and everyone could see the emerald almond shaped eyes that were behind his glasses and the lightening shaped scar on his head.

"Harry?" Lily whispered. The boy gave a smile grin before saying, "Hello."

"May I ask what's going on?" asked a suspicious Professor McGonagall.

"I know this seems weird, and I totally understand if you don't trust me, what with the war going on and everything…" said Harry. Harry glanced around the room and Lily, Remus and Dumbledore all saw the intense pain and sadness that was present in his eyes. For some reason she couldn't figure out, Lily felt a pull to him. She knew there was a very good chance of it being her son, but there was a chance he was a death eater, even though how he got into the school at all was a mystery.

"I believe you are Harry James Potter, son of Lily and James, are you not?" asked Dumbledore. Lily noticed Harry twitch a little, as if he was surprised at hearing Professor Dumbledore's voice, but she ignored it as he started speaking.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Albus, do you really believe that this is the same boy from the book? It seems very unlikely that he could arrive here from the future."

"Minerva, I would agree with you, but the book is from the future as well, is it not?"

Dumbledore turned to everyone in the room and cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"I think the best course of action would be to give young Mr. Potter Veritaserum and ask him a few questions. Does that seem reasonable to everyone?" They all nodded their heads before turning and looking at Harry. "Young man if you don't agree to this I am afraid that will create a barrier to trust and I will have to resort to other methods."

Harry shook his head. "No, no I agree. Truthfully I didn't expect anything less."

"Excellent!" said Dumbledore, clapping his hands together. "Now if I can just get a house elf up here…" But at that moment five vials of Veritaserum appeared on a tray in the room. Dumbledore's eyebrows rose up in surprise and Lily explained, "I think all five of us- me, James, Sirius, Remus and Harry all wished for some."

"Ah, well Harry, please take a vial." Harry swallowed a vial of Veritaserum and waited for the affects.

"So Harry, are you really the son of James and Lily Potter?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes."

"And is this book telling the truth? Do they really die and do you survive the killing curse."

"Unfortunately, yes." Lily had tears rolling down her cheeks. Even though she had already heard the news, it was being reaffirmed by something that could only be true, by someone who went through it all and must be in a lot of pain.

"How did you get here from the future?"

"We sent the book back first using a spell, and we programmed at certain points of the book for people to be brought here, from the future and this time."

"I see, well I think that is sufficient for now, let's continue reading."

"That is so cool!" shouted Sirius.

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

"**I'm a **_**what**_**?" gasped Harry.**

"A wizard!" shouted Sirius is excitement. "Do you realize how long it took you to find out?" he asked Harry.

"Why yes, I do… considering I was present at the time." Everyone laughed at Sirius.

"**A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

"Hagrid is so nice… we should go visit him tomorrow." Lily suggested.

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:**

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

_**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

"Wow Professor… you become even more distinguished in the future!" said James.

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform**

At that Dumbledore paused for a moment as everyone turned to look at Sirius who had started to recite the letter. "Please go on Professor, this was just one of the best days of my life, how could I not remember what it said?'

**you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall,**

_**Deputy Headmistress**_

"Only you Padfoot, only you…" muttered Harry in amusement. It was becoming very difficult for him to control his emotions as he sat in a room full of people who were dead in his own time.

"You know!" shouted James.

"Yeah Prongs, I do know. About a lot of things," as Harry said this he glanced at Remus.

"Like what?" Remus asked a little uncomfortable.

"You'll see… It's all explained in the books."

"Books?" asked a surprised Lily.

"Yeah, seven of them for each of my years at Hogwarts."

"You mean to tell me, that we'll have to be here longer with these crazy people?" asked Vernon.

Harry smirked at him, "Yes."

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"That's the question you asked?"

"Hey Sirius, don't judge me!"

"Don't call me Sirius!"

"I'll call you whatever I like if you're going to judge me and my actions in these books!"

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl – a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl**

"That's a little disturbing…" muttered Lily and McGonagall wore a shocked look on her face, but the boys all laughed and even Dumbledore chuckled.

– **a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

**Dear professor Dumbledore,**

**Given Harry his letter.**

**Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**

**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**

**Hagrid**

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm.**

"Poor owl…" muttered Remus.

**Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as taking on the telephone.**

"Um Harry… It is normal!" Harry just stared at Sirius for a moment.

"Well it wasn't at the time for me!"

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

Everyone chuckled.

"**Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the fire-light.**

"Oh no, not you!" Sirius groaned.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" asked a fuming Vernon.

"That you're going to mess everything up…"

"Guys…" said a nervous Remus.

"Remember what we agreed too earlier…" said Lily, but Vernon and Sirius weren't paying any attention.

"I'm getting very tired of all the rude comments you're making about me!"

"Well it's a good thing I don't care about what people think about me then!"

"Padfoot!" yelled James, finally catching their attention. "Chill out, okay?"

"**He's not going," he said.**

**Hagrid grunted.**

"**I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

"I'd like to see what Hagrid is going to do to the Dursleys…" said Sirius. But as everyone glared at him, he quailed under the teachers' gaze.

"**A what?" said Harry, interested.**

"**A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"But isn't he a huge man? So why would he say such a thing?" asked Petunia.

Everyone else shrugged. Either they knew Hagrid was a half-giant and just didn't want to bring it up at the moment, or they were like Sirius and couldn't help but want to drive Petunia a little crazy as she pondered about Hagrid.

"**We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish,"**

Sirius looked at Vernon. "It's not rubbish."

"Hey! Remember what we agreed to! You aren't supposed to judge me!"

**said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it our of him! Wizard indeed!"**

"**You **_**knew**_**?" said Harry. "You **_**knew**_** I'm a – a wizard?"**

"**Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "**_**Knew!**_** Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister**

"Sorry!" squeaked Petunia. Lily didn't say anything as she couldn't trust her own control at the moment. The book was entering into some very serious issues that she wasn't sure she wanted everyone to know about.

**being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that **_**school**_** –**

"Hogwarts…" sighed Remus, "what a wonderful school."

"I agree Moony, I agree."

**and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn,**

"Lily! I can't believe you did that!" Sirius said.

"It was only my first year!" Lily said in defense. I was just so excited about it all!"

"But frog spawn? That's just disgusting!"

**turning teacups into rats.**

"Oh underage magic… Naughty Lily!"

"Like I said Black, it was only that first year, and I only did it once! Besides when did you start caring about rules anyways?"

**I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak!**

Everyone froze as Lily and Petunia looked at each other. "Thanks Petunia…"

"Lily, I-" But Lily was shaking from anger and embarrassment and cut Petunia off.

"NO. You don't get to apologize. You don't get to act like your sorry…" Sirius was squirming in his seat, and Remus looked like he wanted to disappear. Harry was the only one in the room who didn't seem bothered as he knew that very, very deep down both women loved each other and just had too many years of pain in between them to admit the truth.

"Lily… come on, stop," said James. "Remember the agreement, that I might add, you came up with?"

"But it's not just in the future! The first time she called me a freak was on the platform before our first year…" Harry finally had enough, he couldn't stand seeing his mother in so much pain. He stood up and grabbed her arms looking into her eyes.

"Mom, calm down. Please, calm down. We need to read the book." Lily's breathing began to slow down and she shook her head in agreement. As she went to sit down she blushed a deep red as she realized she just needed her son to help her calm down.

**But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

Remus cleared his throat and everyone glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes.

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

"Why am I not surprised?" muttered Lily to herself. The only person in the room who heard her was Harry who gave her hand a slight squeeze in reassurance.

"**Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as – **_**abnormal**_** –**

"I know about this whole agreement we made, but I just have to say that my son is not abnormal!" James sat there for a moment as everyone looked at him in amusement and then he added in afterthought, "And neither are we…"

**and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

"I still can't believe you lied to him! I mean really? Did you hate me that much?" Lily asked Petunia.

"How am I supposed to know? It's not like this has actually happened!" In truth, a few days ago if Petunia had been asked that question she would have answered yes without even thinking. But circumstances had changed and there were things she knew now that she hadn't not that far in the past.

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

"Like a car crash could really kill these two…" joked Sirius.

"Yeah! They don't even know how to drive!" added in Remus.

"You don't know how to drive?" asked a bewildered Vernon looking at the two of them as if they had sprouted extra heads.

"Of course they don't! And neither do I!" said Sirius.

"And you're proud of that fact?" asked Petunia.

"Hello! Have you forgotten that we're all witches and wizards in this room? We have much faster methods of getting around," butted in Lily.

"**CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner.**

"He really needs to learn to manage his temper," reprimanded McGonagall.

"Hagrid deals with situations in his own way, Minerva. We just need to learn to accept that."

"**How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter?**

"See! It's like I said," added Sirius in triumph.

**It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"**

"So what was that like?" Sirius whispered to Harry. Even though he didn't want his friends to die, the thought of fame still attracted him.

Harry looked at him for a moment before saying, "It didn't really work out for me."

"**But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

"I'm kind of scared to hear this, in detail like this…" said Lily. Harry smiled at her and grabbed her hand. He couldn't help but want to touch her as if he needed some sort of physical proof that he was sitting with his mother and father and a young carefree Sirius and Remus.

"**I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know.**

"Professor, I'm sorry, but I'm a little angry at you. For just dropping Harry off in at their house, for not making sure he was taken care of properly. I mean, what's wrong with Sirius? We did name him godfather…"

"Ms. Evans," McGonagall started saying giving the young adult a stern glare, but Harry interrupted her.

"Mom, don't. Please, don't be mad at Professor Dumbledore. This isn't his fault. I really didn't have anywhere to go. All I ask is that you wait until we finish all the books before you say anything. Trust me, there are a lot of things that seem one way, and then you learn the truth later on. Just, hear me out on this one, please."

Everyone looked at Harry. There was a desperation in his voice that none of them understood. In his own mind, Harry was thinking about a lot of things. How Dumbledore died, how Sirius seemed guilty when he was really framed, how Snape wasn't a bad guy, but all of those things appeared false at first. Harry was getting more and more nervous for them to read things as he was sure they would want to do something rash.

**Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh – but someone's gotta – yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

"Here it comes…" said Remus quietly. Remus was sitting across from Harry, who was sitting next to Lily and Remus noticed as his eyes became even more darker, how his face became just slightly more somber, something that Remus thought wasn't possible at first.

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

"Are we really that bad?" asked a frustrated Vernon.

"In the books, yes. Now, you're just a step up from that…" said Sirius with a scowl on his face. Harry laughed out loud. He was prepared to be civil to his aunt and uncle, as they weren't the same people from his own time, yet he would always hold a grudge on them that would not be possible to ignore.

"**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh – mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it…."**

"Do you know all of it?" James asked Harry. "You know, the whole mystery?"

"I think so… I mean, I hope so. If not, then I've learned as much as I've needed to at least."

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with – with a person called – but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows—"**

"Voldemort…" the three Marauders and Lily whispered.

"**Who?"**

"It's weird…" murmured Harry.

"What is?" asked Dumbledore.

"To think back on the time when I didn't know about the wizarding world. But more importantly, when I didn't know who Voldemort was… I guess you could say he became part of my life constantly…"

The witches and wizards in the room looked a little shocked. Except for Dumbledore who was staring at Harry calculatingly, as if slowly putting the pieces of a puzzle together. "But it said he was gone…" said Lily.

"That's the thing with Voldemort… the imprint he left on the world was still there…"

"**Well – I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"That's a lie, considering we say it," said Sirius.

"**Why not?"**

"**Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared.**

"But hasn't it been about ten years when Harry destroyed him?" asked Petunia. She knew a little bit about Voldemort, enough to be truly frightened.

"He gets worse…" said Harry. Unwilling to give too much away too soon. "In just the next few short years, he gets more powerful."

**Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went … bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…"**

"I wonder how Hagrid is going to tell him… I don't think he's able to say it…" said a concerned Lily.

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"**Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

"**Nah – can't spell it. All right – **_**Voldemort**_**."**

"Well, that proved me wrong…" said a surprised Lily.

"Trust me Lily, you're not the only one surprised…" said Remus.

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this – this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers.**

"Wait…" said Lily thoughtfully. "That doesn't leave much time…"

"What do you mean Lily?"

"We only have a few years… about four. I mean, I knew it wasn't that much longer, but…" she couldn't go on though. She couldn't say the words that would make their death seem even more real.

**Got 'em, too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was getting' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry.**

"That's going to be our future… in less then a year," whispered Lily. A silence had ensued over the group as everyone realized what graduation really meant.

**Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches … terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – **

"That's going to be us," said Sirius, with so much conviction it stunned Harry. Just moments ago Sirius had been joking around, but now he had instantly changed, and had become a young man who was so serious it scared Harry. It reminded him of the Sirius he knew in his own time, the one that seemed to have forgotten how to laugh.

The other young witches and wizards in the room nodded their heads in agreement while McGonagall watched them with worry and Dumbledore pondered over things that the young adults couldn't even understand.

**an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe paces left was Hogwarts.**

"That's true… luckily," said Remus.

**Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"What's that supposed to mean? Is he going to attack in the next few years?" asked James. Everyone turned to Harry.

"No, I think he was just planning for it to happen eventually." There was no need yet to mention that the final battle would happen at Hogwarts and that the school would be torn apart.

"**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I even knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day!**

"And we still don't know, even a few months into the school year how James is the head boy," said Remus, trying to slightly lighten the mood.

"Hey, Professor! Why did you make me head boy?" asked James. They all turned to Dumbledore, as each had wondered that at one time.

"I have my reasons…" hinted Dumbledore with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

**Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

"I would never go to the Dark Side…" said James with such a hatred in his voice it took a moment for everyone to recover.

"I don't think Hagrid was suggesting we ever would James…" said Lily.

"**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em… maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way.**

"Do you know Harry?" asked an intrigued Professor McGonagall. "Why he tried to kill you?"

"Yes Professor," said a subdued Harry.

"But you aren't going to try and tell us are you?" asked Sirius. Harry just barely smiled.

"No… it's too complicated and everything does get explained in the books, so let's just read."

**All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' – an'-"**

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

"He would…" said Lily, half laughing but also sounding like she could burst into tears at any moment.

"**Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad – knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anyway…**

"Oh gosh!" said Sirius. Everyone in the room was having a hard time keeping their composure. Harry stole a glance at Vernon and Petunia and his heart warmed up to her just a little bit as he saw even her having a hard time keeping control.

"**You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then – 'an this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just like killin' by then.**

"Oh he always liked killing. No one could do it over and over again and not enjoy it…" muttered Sirius, a dark gleam in his eyes.

**But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even –**

Harry enveloped Lily in a hug as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

**but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age – the McKinnons,**

"No!" shouted Lily.

**the Bones,**

"Oh gosh…" muttered Remus.

**the Prewetts –**

"Gideon and Fabion? They're fellow Gryffindors!"

**an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat as everyone stared at him.

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light,**

"I still can't believe you would remember that…" said Lily.

"It was a trace of very powerful magic Ms. Evans. Something that powerful, plus the added bonus of being marked with a curse scar after the impact makes it I think, very believable that he remembered it, even at the young age of a year," said Dumbledore. Harry shifted a little as Dumbledore mentioned his scar and the power it had in helping him remember the light, as if it was more than just a scar. It was too close to the truth for comfort, and something he didn't want to consider at the moment.

**more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

Harry thought of the Muggle phrase of being able to hear crickets in the silence that ensued.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

"Pity…" muttered Harry. He looked around the room and noticed as everyone was looking at him with similar, pitying stares. "Please, don't… I don't need your pity…"

"**Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…"**

"I should bake Hagrid something…" said Lily.

"You know what would be better? Buying him some brandy…" suggested Sirius.

"**Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there.**

"So did I…" said Vernon.

"You forgot you were here?" asked a confused Sirius. "That's stupid!"

"I meant I forgot we were there in the book! You're what is stupid!" Harry relaxed a little as their words lightened the extremely tense mood.

**Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

"Like that will do any good…" said Remus.

"**Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured – and as for all this about you parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion – asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types – just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end."**

"You have very insulting comments, do you know that?" said Sirius to Vernon.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat.**

Harry saw McGonagall's lips purse in disapproval while his own broke out into a smile at the thought of what was to come.

**Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word…"**

"And what's an umbrella going to do?" asked Vernon.

"Well, it is a giant man you was able to bend the gun with just his hand, so I would be scared," said Sirius.

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant,**

"See! Your other self knew to be scared!" exclaimed Remus.

**Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"**That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

"They need better furniture in this place…" muttered Petunia. Lily's mouth barely twitched, as if she had to stop herself from smiling.

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

"Not every single question is put in the book is it? Cause that would be long and boring…" said Sirius.

"What do you think stupid?" asked Lily sarcastically.

"**But what happened to Vol-, sorry – I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"That's a good question," said Remus.

"**Good question, Harry.**

"Well… that was weird," said Remus and everyone laughed.

**Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was gettin' more an' more powerful – why'd he go?**

"So did he die or what?" asked a confused Lily.

"**Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die.**

Only Harry noticed the way Dumbledore barely reacted to that sentence, as if he just realized something very important.

**Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours.**

"They can't be on our side if they were on Voldemort's," said an angry Sirius.

**Some of 'em came outta kinda trances.**

"Let me guess, imperious curse?" said Remus.

"You are correct Mr. Lupin," said McGonagall.

**Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.**

"**Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers.**

"Well that not nearly as exciting as thinking he was gone…" said a disappointed Lily.

**Too weak to carry on.**

"But that means he could come back, doesn't it?" asked James. Harry didn't say anything.

'**Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on – **_**I**_** dunno what it was, no one does – but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

"And you were only a baby…" whispered Lily.

"You're baby Lily, not just any baby," said Sirius.

"Yeah…" Harry said, thinking about how it was because of Lily that he even survived.

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.**

"And why are you feeling this Harry?" asked Sirius, staring at Harry as if he was crazy.

**A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be?**

"It should be how could you possibly NOT be? With parents like yours, and a godfather like me?"

"Sirius, calm down," said Remus.

**He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon;**

Petunia and Vernon shrunk in their seats, afraid of being attacked by Sirius again, but everyone just ignored them.

**if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard?**

"Because if doesn't work that way, Mr. Potter," said McGonagall.

"Well I know that now Professor," said Harry, embarrassed that they could read all of his thoughts.

"Even though, it would be cool if that did happen…" muttered James.

"I hope you aren't getting any new ideas from this James," warned McGonagall.

"Not at all Professor!" said Sirius with his trademark grin. Remus just shrugged his shoulders innocently.

**If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

"Hey that line just made me think of Charlie Brown and Lucy always tricking him with the football!" said Harry.

The witches and wizards in the room looked very confused but Lily was smiling and Vernon and Petunia appeared glad that the conversation had come back to something they could actually understand. "It's a famous cartoon character," explained Petunia.

"**Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

"Why are you fighting this Harry? This is the best thing that could ever happen to you!" said Sirius. Harry grinned.

"I know that now… but at the time I didn't know what being a wizard meant," explained Harry.

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

"**No a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"**

"Vanishing glass!" yelled Sirius and Remus together.

"Yeah…" chuckled Harry, "great times."

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it… every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry… chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach…**

"On the roof no less!" shouted a proud Sirius.

"Be careful Harry, or he'll try to get you to join the Marauders…" whispered Lily.

**dreading going to school with that ridiculous hair cut, he'd managed to make it grow back… and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

"I'll forever be proud of my son for that…" said James.

"You better not ever use this as a prank James Potter, or I'll hex you until no one can recognize who you are…" threatened Lily.

"Hey Harry… aren't you a parselmouth?" asked a curious Remus.

"Oh yeah… I am," said Harry who suddenly became uncomfortable in his chair.

"And may I inquire as to how that occurred?" asked Dumbledore.

"It's explain-" Harry began.

But Lily cut him off, "Let me guess? In the book?"

"Yeah, sorry… it's just a lot easier that way…"

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

"**See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard – you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

"Oh gosh, I really wish that hadn't been true…" mumbled Harry.

"Why?" asked Lily.

"People watching every single move you make… and when you're me, well… I seem to get in some sticky situations…"

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

"Of course he wouldn't," groaned James.

"**Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish – spell books and wands and –"**

"Like we didn't leave money for him…" said Lily, but turning to Harry she asked, "We did leave money for you right?"

"Yeah, don't worry, you left plenty of money."

"**If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts!**

"Only over my dead body would he not go to Hogwarts…" muttered Sirius.

"And I don't think Professor Dumbledore would let Harry not go to Hogwarts, just look at all the letters he sent to him," said Remus.

**Yer mad.**

"Now that part's true," whispered Sirius to James.

**His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbled-"**

"Yes!" Sirius yelled.

"Now I wouldn't say that I am the great headmaster, but I do believe in my own abilities and consider to be in the top percentage," said an amused Dumbledore.

"Sir, you're being too modest, everyone knows you're the best headmaster, it's just a fact," said Lily. "Even if I am still a little angry with you…"

"Well, everyone makes mistakes, but that doesn't mean they should be judged for them," said Harry. He could tell Dumbledore was thinking about the mistake involving his sister.

"**I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

Everyone turned their head to stare at Vernon who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Remember, this is in the future…"

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER-" he thundered, "-INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!"**

"Oh I'm so excited to see what he does!" shouted Sirius. Harry was grinning broadly.

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley – there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain.**

"What happened?" asked a surprised Lily.

"His umbrella Albus? He kept his broken wand pieces?" McGonagall was clearly not pleased but Harry, knowing Professor Dumbledore as well as he did, could see the faintest trace of a smile on his face.

**When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

The Marauders and Harry broke out in laughter, with tears trailing down Harry's face as he remembered that day. Lily had a disapproving look on her face but Harry said to her, "Come on Lily, you have to admit it's funny," and with that little bit of prompting even she started to laugh.

Petunia and Vernon just looked frightened at the thought that something like that was possible to do with magic.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

"Finally they're gone and Hagrid and Harry can talk in peace!" said a satisfied Sirius.

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

"**Shouldn'ta lost my temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway.**

"What does he possibly mean by that?" asked McGonagall. "What did he mean to do to that boy?"

**Meant ter turn him into a pig,**

The reading had to be paused once again as another bout of laughter came from the teenagers in the room.

**but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

"Nicely said Hagrid!" yelled Sirius.

"Can you control yourself for even two minutes?" asked Remus.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts,"**

"I can't believe he would do something like that!" said McGonagall.

"You aren't going to do anything are you?" asked a worried Harry. As he knew that Hagrid was actually innocent he felt like he deserved to be able to do some magic.

Dumbledore chuckled and gave Harry a wink. Harry just shook his head in amazement, that man knew everything.

**he said. "I'm – er – not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'.**

"I wonder why…" said Lily.

**I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff – one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job-"**

"Of course he would," muttered McGonagall.

"**Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

"And you just asked him like that? What if it's personal!" said Lily.

"Hey! In my defense I had just learned about the magical wizard and that someone had tried to murder me and for some reason I survived when no one else ever had! I wasn't really thinking about being polite!"

"**Oh, well – I was at Hogwarts meself but I – er- got expelled,**

"I wonder why…" Remus mused.

**ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

"I agree!" said Sirius.

"**Why were you expelled?"**

"And there you go again!"

"Sorry!"

"**It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

"Oh yeah, he just totally changed the subject…" said Sirius.

"I'm so glad you're here Sirius, so that you can point out the obvious things to everyone! Because I just don't think I would catch them otherwise!"

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

"**You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

"EWW!" said Lily.

"Well, that was the end of the chapter," said Dumbledore.

"Are we going to read another one tonight?" asked Sirius.

"I think for tonight we've read enough, as I assume the four of you are going to want to spend some time alone with Harry. I will allow it, but I ask that you don't stay up too late as the four of you still have classes together."

"Thank you, sir," said Harry, and he meant it. Here was a chance to get to know his parents, and to get to know Sirius and Remus before they were put through hell. This was the Sirius that he remembered seeing in the picture from his parents' wedding.

"And as for you," continued Dumbledore, "we need to find a place for you to stay while you're here."

"Don't worry sir, I can stay here," said Harry, and as he said it a bed that looked like it came from the Gryffindor dorm rooms appeared.

"Well then," said Dumbledore clapping his hands together, "I think that is our cue to leave," he said turning to McGonagall. The two of them swept from the room.

"So does this mean we can leave?" asked Petunia. Lily nodded her head and the two of them disappeared, leaving just the five of them left. They all settled back into their chairs and stared at each other, not exactly sure of what to say.

Finally Harry got up the courage to talk and said, "So…"


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, let's really hope that this chapter gets out faster then the last one! I'm really sorry about that guys! (Looks like it won't…)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own… unfortunately.**

"So…" Remus said, swinging his arms back in forth.

Harry sighed he had hoped it wouldn't have been this awkward, but he was wrong. Luckily Sirius was there. "So do you know us in the future?" he asked excitedly.

Harry grinned. "Yeah both you and Remus. I won't give anything away but you're two of the most important people in my life."

"And what about Peter?" asked James. He was depressed he wouldn't get to raise his son, but at least he got to meet him for a while.

Harry tried his hardest to control his anger about Peter. "I know him too." Harry figured that was the nicest thing he could say about Peter, considering how crazy just the thought of him made Harry go.

"So if we're two of the most important people in your life, then why didn't we come and get you when you were a baby?" asked Remus.

"Dumbledore-" Harry began to explain, but Lily cut him off.

"Oh right, so everyone just has to obey everything that he tells us? You're my son and Sirius is his godfather! He should have the right, or Remus should be able to take Harry with him."

"Look, there were complications that no one expected to happen," explained Harry.

"And we won't get to find out about those until we have read the books…" guessed James.

"Like I said, I'm sorry. But, there's going to be things that happen in these books that I know you would rather not here about. And so much happens that it's too hard to explain, and I can't even reasonably think about some of the things that happen."

"Harry, we understand, don't worry about it," reassured Lily. She found it easy to fall into the role of mother when around Harry. She instinctively felt a pull towards him, that she had to protect him. She wasn't exactly sure why though. For one thing, he was older than her. She knew he was her son, but she barely knew him. She hadn't been pregnant with him yet, hadn't given birth to him or seen him as a baby, but there was already a bond there, even if she couldn't put it into words.

Everyone sat in contemplative silence for a few moments each thinking about the situation they had been put in. Sirius then asked, "What are your friends like Harry?"

Harry broke out into a grin and Remus noticed it was the happiest he had seen him look, even if he didn't really know him for that long. "My friends, they're amazing."

"Are they as good of friends as mine are?" asked James. Harry hesitated for a moment, thinking of Peter, but luckily none of them noticed. "They are… they really are. Two of my best friends, Ron and Hermione, I couldn't ask for better people in the world. They literally have been through everything with me, I don't think I could have survived without them."

Harry's eyes began to water and he turned his head away from the people in the room to clear them. He didn't want them to see him crying, he knew Sirius would never let him forget it.

"Wait…" said a confused Sirius, "you only have two friends?" Harry chuckled at that.

"No, they're just my best friends. I didn't say I didn't have other friends as well. It's just like you and the other Marauders."

"Okay… got it."

Harry looked at Lily. "What are your friends like Mom?"

"Oh they're not interesting Harry! We should tell you about the Marauders some more!"

"Trust me Sirius, I've heard about enough of your adventures! What I haven't heard about are any of Lily's friends."

Lily looked at Harry surprised. "You haven't heard about any of my friends? Have you heard anything about me?"

Harry tried to convey how bad he felt to his mom. He could see she was easily on the verge of breaking down. "I've heard about you. But most of it was after you became friends with the Marauders, or when you were friend with Severus." Harry ignored the disgusted looks of the faces of James and Sirius.

"Harry don't say that person's name out loud ever!" yelled Sirius in outrage.

"Or at least not in front of these two idiots…" mumbled Remus.

But Harry just ignored Sirius and his father. He had grown up a lot since the start of what was supposed to be his seventh year at Hogwarts. Sure, he didn't like Snape, but he respected him. He felt grateful to him, and he didn't hate him anymore. It was just very strong dislike. Not after what he had done for him. Too much had happened.

"You know about Severus?" asked a surprised Lily.

"Yep," replied Harry. "I've heard the whole story. And I mean the whole story… more than you probably know."

"And how have you heard the whole story?" asked a surprised Remus.

"It's another one of those things that I don't want to ruin for you…" he said with a shrug of his shoulders in apology. "So what about your other friends?"

"Alice is my best friend. I wish I could tell her about this book though! Because she's starting to get really suspicious about why I keep disappearing for hours on end, and she totally knows something is going on."

"Wait… Alice who?" Harry knew Neville's mom's name was Alice and he knew she had to be close to the age of his parents. If she could hear this story, then everything would be perfect, especially if she was dating Frank and he could hear it too.

"Alice Williams, she's one of my dorm mates."

"But I'm thinking that in just a couple years, she'll be known as Alice Longbottom," laughed Sirius.

Lily rolled her eyes and explained, "She's dating Frank Longbottom right now. He's a year above us."

Harry's heart leapt in excitement. He had planned for Frank and Alice to hear the book as well, but Hermione hadn't scheduled them to appear until Neville was mentioned in the book. This would make everything easier. He found it oddly strange, but at the same way it made sense, that Lily and Alice were best friends and both their kids were considered for the same prophecy.

"Let her read the book," Harry demanded.

The four of them stopped and looked at Harry. "What?" asked a confused Remus.

"Trust me just do it! And have Frank read it too. Up to the point of where we've read. It'll be easier this way anyways."

"And once again this is for one of those reasons that you can't explain right?" asked James.

"So Frank does marry Alice? Because otherwise why would both of them need to read the book? Do you know their kid Harry?" asked an excited Sirius. He found the idea of two people getting married, one of which was still in school quite amusing.

"How did you possibly come up with that Sirius?" asked a very surprised Remus. It didn't happen often that Sirius noticed something any of the others missed.

"Well it's bound to happen sometimes," Sirius replied.

"So they really get married Harry?" wondered Lily, hoping to hear good news. Her mood had gone down since they first started reading the book, but the news of a wedding could make anyone feel better. "Please, tell us. You won't be ruining anything! I promise!"

Harry laughed out loud. To see Lily's spirits lifting was a sight that made them all happier too. "Yeah, they get married, but I won't say anything else on the matter."

"This really does drive me crazy…" muttered Sirius. "Can we just stop talking about things that you can't talk about?"

"So will anyone else just be randomly falling into this room while we're reading the book?" asked a curious Remus.

"Yeah. Some people will be pulled here from your time and some will come from the future like me."

"Like who?" asked Sirius.

"Well, my friends will be coming, some at different times than others and then people from this time that are just important to the story line and who we think deserve to hear it. Not everyone who should know about what happens gets the chance to."

"Like us," said James quietly. Harry just nodded his head, averting his eyes from those around him. This was hard for him, but he had had time to take in what happened, they were just finding out about it for the first time. His whole life had been filled with grief and terror. Even before he was born. The minute the prophecy was made, his life took a different course. But up until now, their lives had been pretty easy. Sure, Sirius came from a bad family, and Remus was a werewolf, but those were things they could deal with. They had no idea what war was like, what death really was. He saw them sitting around him, all ready to join the order and fight the dark side the moment out of Hogwarts, but they really had no clue what they were signing up for.

*****

Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione were sitting on a pale cream couch in the apartment that they shared with Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna. Neither of them were saying anything, both rendered speechless by what had passed. Hermione was nervously twiddling her thumbs together while Ron had stared at the same spot on the floor for hours. Both had lost track of time, neither knew for how long they had been sitting on the couch.

At that moment Ginny walked into the apartment, slamming the door. She draped her coat onto a chair in the kitchen and walked over to grab a glass of water when she stopped. She slowly backed up and looked through the door into the living room, where Ron and Hermione were sitting. They didn't seem to notice her there, but by the looks on their faces she could easily figure out what happened.

"So he's gone?" Her voice startled them out of the trance they had been sitting in for the past few hours.

Hermione nodded slowly, "Yes."

"So this means now we just have to wait, right?" asked Ginny.

"Yep, and we have no idea how long it'll take before we're each called," said Hermione, who had regained her voice once she got over the shock, "so we have to be careful. We could be anywhere when it happens, and I don't think it will go over well if any of us disappear, especially since no one is going to have seen Harry for a few days."

"We could just say all of us are going on a well deserved vacation? We never really got the chance to after the battle at Hogwarts. What with having to catch the other death eaters and everything else," pointed out Ron.

Hermione and Ginny stared at him, but for different reasons. Hermione was staring at Ron, amazed at how much he had matured since they had first started going out. Ginny on the other hand, wasn't used to seeing Ron saying anything intelligent or of importance. It still surprised her to see him be so responsible and to take his job seriously.

"That just might work. I'll flu right now and let Shacklebolt know that we're leaving for a while. Of course, I won't tell him what we're planning on doing." Hermione ran off and Ginny sat down next to Ron.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" asked Ron.

"Do you mean how long will it take to read the books, or how long will it take before we get sent there?"

"What do you think? The two of us are next you know."

Ginny smiled a little before answering. "We have no way to tell. I'm sure everyone will be excited to keep on reading the book, but at the same time, Harry will probably want to spend some extra time with them. It could be tomorrow, or it could be a week. I honestly don't think it would be any longer than that, but we can never be sure."

"This sucks, just waiting here, not knowing when it will happen."

"It's not like we have anything to worry about though! We're reading a book."

"Yeah, to people in the past! To people who have been murdered in front of our eyes and have been tortured and are insane! And we're telling these people, teenagers in fact who are younger than ourselves, what's in store for them in the future. We're not just reading a book."

"Ron, it'll turn out all right. Don't worry."

"I don't know why I'm worrying so much. I mean, this isn't anywhere as bad as having to fight death eaters or any of the things we did while still at Hogwarts."

"Exactly."

*****

Harry was enjoying talking to his parents and Remus and Sirius as teenagers. He got to see into their minds, what they were like. They were incredibly different as teenagers than as adults, the effect the war would have on them was astounding. He loved hearing them joke around with each other and laugh at nothing, but something was bugging him and he was just trying to get up the courage to ask them about it.

Finally he knew he couldn't wait any longer. He would just have to ask them. So Harry took a deep breath and asked, "Why are so excited to join the war?"

The teens stopped and looked at him. "Why not?" said James.

"It's the right thing to do," added Sirius. "I've seen what dark wizards do, I grew up in a house of them, someone needs to stop them."

"But there's a difference between doing something because it's right and being excited to do something. There's a line and you guys are on the wrong side of it."

"Okay, that makes no sense," said Remus, "and I'm the smart one here."

"I can understand joining a war because it's the right thing to do. If you're fighting for something you believe in, I get that. But I don't understand why someone would want to fight in a war."

"That doesn't make sense!" said Lily. Harry was getting frustrated. They couldn't see. They couldn't understand what war was like. He didn't want to have to explain it to them in such blunt terms but he knew he had no choice.

"War is nothing like what everyone thinks it's like. You have to fight to survive, one little mistake and you could be the next one killed. And people are dying all around you, people you care about and love. And you can't think because if you stop to think you could get killed so you have to rely on your instincts. And it's terrifying when you're staring at someone who has their wand pointed at you and you know they're going to kill you. It's painful and it's messy. There's no honor to war because what's honorable about people killing other people? Even if they're the bad guys, even if they're cruel, you can't justify killing them. Yet, you might not have a choice but to kill them. War is something people should be running away from, but everyone runs towards." Harry's voice had escalated to a yell so he took a few calming breaths and said so quietly they could barely hear him, "I can't understand that."

It was once he was done speaking that he felt the tears on his cheek. He quickly wiped them away. They were all staring at him, yet he didn't want them to see him at the moment. He stood up quickly and walked over to the book shelf, looking at the different selections there. "I'm really tired right now. And I think Dumbledore wouldn't approve of you staying up too late, you should get to bed." He couldn't help but speak with a hard tone in his voice. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."


	9. Chapter 9

**I want to apologize for how long it takes me to update this story, but I promise I'm trying as hard as I can! And I just got a ton of motivation by checking how many people read my story in just half a day from last updating it, and it was amazing! I'm pumped now!**

Lily, James, Sirius and Remus walked slowly back to the common room, not saying anything, as they were each in their own thoughts. Lily went her separate way to the girls staircase and the guys headed to their own dormitory, but for just a second they all paused and looked at each other before Lily turned and ran up the stairs. She burst into her room where Alice was talking with the other girls.

"Hey Lily!" said Miranda. Miranda had her dark brown hair cut in a bob and olive skin. She was small and sprite, and so Sirius had started calling her a pixie when they had been dating and it had stuck. She was smart, but pretty quiet. Her brother had been an auror and in the past year had been murdered. Miranda was the closest person that Lily knew that had been affected by the war, but she knew she wouldn't be the last.

Sitting next to her was Ana who had been born and raised in Spain. If she got really passionate about anything she would start speaking in Spanish, and then nobody could understand her. She was the shortest of the five girls in the dorm and her black, curly hair went down to her lower back. Ana and Sara were sitting on Sara's bed, which was next to Alice's bed. Alice was lying down on her back on her bed.

Sitting on the floor between the beds was Blair. Blair had shiny blond hair and long legs and Lily always thought that if she had been a Muggle, she would have become a model. She just had that look of casual elegance. Not that Blair had any desire to be a model. Every time any of the girls brought it up Blair would role her eyes and say "The world is full of stupid people who need to find something else to amuse themselves with rather than beauty and the fake reality they wish to live in. I don't know how modeling became a profession because it is a waste of time and money that could go to more important issues of the world."

"Hey guys," Lily said. She really needed to talk to Alice. "What are you doing?"

"Gossiping," said Miranda. "Apparently Mallory Adams kissed a certain Bradley Cooper, but he refused her."

"Because he still loves a certain Lily Evans," added Ana.

"Oh please, we dated last year."

"And you're saying that doesn't bug you at all that they kissed?" asked a surprised Blair.

"It does only because I hate her, not because I care about him anymore. And even if I did, he refused her, so I wouldn't have anything to worry about if I still liked him, which I don't."

"That's because Lily likes someone else," Alice said with a mischievous grin.

"What!" the other three girls yelled, twisting around to stare at her.

"You guys are starting to look like deer caught in head lights, did you know that?" Lily asked sarcastically. "Thanks for that," she said to Alice. "I have to talk to you Alice, about something important."

Alice stood up and the two girls turned to walk down to the common room, which they knew by this time would be either empty or deserted enough that they could talk quietly enough not to be disturbed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're not getting off the hook that easily!" yelled Blair, who ran over and grabbed Lily's arm, preventing her from leaving.

"Yeah, who is the new guy in your life?" asked Miranda.

"No one! Alice is just being her crazy self, and likes to think that because James still likes me-"

"No, loves, not likes, Lily. James loves you."

"Will you just be quiet Alice? You've done enough damage already," Lily scolded Alice before turning back to the other three girls. "Anyways, she said that because he loves me, so we're going to end up together, which isn't true at all."

"Well, you never know, it could happen," said Miranda.

"Lily, if James was chasing after me, especially for as long as he has been, I would totally take that fine man up on his offer," said Ana, smiling mischievously.

"Well, that's the difference between you and me then," Lily said. "But I really need to talk to Alice about something important, it has nothing to do with me wanting to change the subject, I promise."

"Well, we aren't done with this conversation, just remember that Lily!" yelled Blair as Alice and Lily disappeared down the stairs. They walked into a mostly empty common room and plopped down on the good seats next to the fireplace.

"So, what is so important you need to talk to me right now?" asked Alice. Lily threw the book into her lap. "Read to chapter four, no farther. I've put a smell so you can't, but I'm pretty sure you could just undo it."

"Okay, sounds good." Alice went to open the book but Lily stopped her. "Alice...I mean it, don't read past chapter four."

"Okay Lily, I understand."

"Good," she said before both of them yawned.

"I think I'll start this in the morning, I have no classes till after lunch," said Alice and they walked back up and fell into bed.

In the morning Lily woke up to find Alice still asleep. She stayed in bed for a few minutes wishing that she could sleep later like Alice. She hated the mornings. It was cold and bright and the whole day was still waiting in front of her. She used to be a big morning person. Up until about fifth year. That's when the OWLS started and now with NEWT classes, she always had homework she had to do.

She climbed out of bed and instantly the cold hit her. She shivered and ran to the warm safety of the shower. It only took her about twenty minutes to get ready. She knew girls who spent hours in the morning, putting on makeup and making sure their hair was perfect, but that all seemed silly and pointless to Lily.

She was about to leave for breakfast when she remembered to write a note for Alice.

_Alice,_

_I know you usually spend your free time in the morning with Frank (when you sneak off to Hogsmead without permission…), but I really need you to read the book. But Frank should read it too, so just get together with him and read. It may seem silly at first, but don't stop reading like I know you've done before with books I've requested. This is not just a book. It's important. And remember only read to CHAPTER 4!_

_Love Lily_

Lily looked at the letter and felt satisfied. Alice would still get to have time with Frank and they would have as much read as the rest of them by tonight, as long as they didn't get sidetracked with other things…

James was shoveling in as much food as possible at breakfast. It was just how he ate, along with Sirius. Of course, Remus and Peter always liked to comment that Sirius ate like a dog, which always cracked them up. Peter was sitting with them, so they couldn't talk about the book, or more importantly about meeting Harry last night. James wasn't sure why they didn't tell Peter about it, but for some reason they still hadn't decided to.

James wasn't sure when things got like this. When Peter seemed farther away than the rest, when they stopped telling him everything and when he stopped telling them everything. It was a natural progression and one James is sure they wouldn't have had control over even if they noticed it occurring a long time ago.

James, Sirius and Remus were all intelligent students, even if they didn't always show it to the students around them. They were confident, to the point of being cocky at times, but they had good souls that always forced them to do the right thing. And they were leaders, they could easily grab the attention of a room, and they readily welcomed that attention

Peter on the other hand had trouble in school, was quiet and reserved. He hid behind his friends, often taking the role of bait or lookout in their schemes, and never contributing his own ideas. James would have to say it was last year when he started drifting away from them. They entered sixth year, sure that they would be best friends always, but Peter wasn't in all of the same classes. He missed out on pivotal moments in their relationships, that could have broken a bond of friendship forever, but only strengthened the bonds of those who were present. He missed out on jokes and information that was never discussed again. And the NEWT classes that Peter was in with the other three, he wasn't able to sit back and relax like them. He had to pay attention and spend extra hours outside of class, studying and visiting with teachers for extra help.

They didn't mean to exclude him, but they couldn't put their lives on hold either and start them up again only for the moments that he was with the rest of them.

At that moment Lily walked up to them. "I gave Alice the book, and she always spends her free mornings with Frank, so by tonight they'll be caught up."

"Cool," James said, nodding his head before turning back to his food.

"What book?" Peter asked, confused. He noticed no one else seemed confused by what Lily had said.

"Just a book for NEWT transfiguration," replied Sirius without even missing a beat. It struck James how easily that had been for Sirius to think of a lie, not that Sirius didn't have practice with lying, but never to his friends. And it didn't seem to bother James or Sirius and Remus like it would have just a year ago.

By the look Remus gave him, James knew he wasn't the only one who noticed how much their friendship with Peter had changed.

Lily started to turn away when James spoke up, "Do you want to sit with us Lily?"

When Lily turned around, James could tell what her answer would be just by the look on her face, "No."

"Why? Give me one good reason why you won't sit here."

"Because we're not friends James. I just don't hate you anymore," and then Lily walked away and sat down next to Sara, Ana and Blair.

"Whoa! Why didn't you fight back Prongs?" asked Sirius.

"Because she's right, we aren't friends," James said. His friends looked at each other, he sounded almost defeated.

"Prongs, I'm sure it will happen eventually. I mean, the book…" Remus started to say, trying to comfort James. But then James smirked, back to his normal self before saying, "_Yet._ We aren't friends _yet,_ but we will be."

Harry had had an extremely long night, and he enjoyed being able to sleep in, not having to worry about rogue Death Eaters who were attempting to stir up Voldemort's terror once again. The last few years had been tough.

After the final battle at Hogwarts, the castle lay in ruins. The ministry under the new reign of Shaklebolt, along with the Order had set out to catch the other Death Eaters. It was complete caous, the dementers were not available to deliver the kiss to convicted Death Eaters and many wizards, witches and creatures of the dark were still causing trouble. The conviction of suspected Death Eaters was one of the most difficult issues that had to be dealt with. It was hard to decipher if a person was truly a dark wizard or if they were under the imperious cure.

But Harry, along with the rest of the Order was adamant in making sure the wizards put in Askaban were truly dark wizards and that guilty wizards would not get away from punishment because they had the money to bribe the ministry. One of the first tests they had to encounter was with the Malfoy family.

Harry didn't think they had turned to the light during the battle, but they certainly had turned away from the dark. They were stuck in a gray area. Draco and his mother couldn't get away from the crimes they had committed in the past, but Harry was sure they wouldn't be a problem in the future. Mr. Malfoy though was a different case intirely. Harry couldn't trust him. His mind drifted to the encounter he had with Draco a few months after the battle, right before Mr. Malfoy was put on trial.

_Harry watched as Malfoy walked up to him slowly, looking defeated. Narcissa watched in the distance, waiting for her son so they could enter the court room together, as a unified force. Harry knew they were the only support system each of them had as they waited for the fate of their family member._

_Malfoy stuck his hand out the minute he was in reach of Harry. His eyes were downcast. Harry had been amazed at how humble Malfoy had become after the war. His family was in disgrace, he and his mother had been left off of conviction mostly in part to Harry, who had spoke up for the pair. Now he had one last battle to face, the conviction of his father before Malfoy would disappear from society for a few months to regain his senses and composure to face a world that would without doubt turn away from him._

"_No more boasting?" asked Harry. He wasn't really surprised though. He remembered the look on Malfoy's face from the glimpses of Voldemort's world that he had seen the previous year. "No threats as I might put your father in Askaban again?" Harry felt a paign of guilt as he said it. He knew Malfoy didn't deserve the snide comments at the moment._

"_You got me and my mom out. You saved us, I won't forget that."_

_Harry mentally cataloged this moment in his mind, he wasn't sure when the next time would be that Malfoy was this nice. "I forgive you. For everything, all the way back to the first time we met. I don't like you, but I don't blame you. I can't forgive your father though. I never will be able to."_

"_I don't blame you," and Harry thought he saw a glimpse in Malfoy's eyes as he said that that made Harry think Malfoy couldn't forgive his father either._

"_The best way to understand someone is to see how they are raised. You didn't really have a choice did you?" Malfoy didn't have to respond for Harry to know the answer. Malfoy turned and walked away, back to his mother before they entered the room together. Harry watched them go, they were holing onto their old lives with just by threads, but slowly Harry knew they were grow stronger._

_Because that's what families did. Harry had seen prime examples of the power of family._

_Hermione was willing to make her parents forget everything about her and create a new life for them, just so that they wouldn't have to live in pain if anything happened. As they set out on their journey, her parents weren't there to worry about her and she never knew if she would see or communicate with them again, but she did it anyways, out of love._

_The Weasleys stuck together through everything. They had reconciled with Percy even after the misunderstanding. They put their lives on the line for each other, including their makeshift family for Harry. Harry didn't know what he would have done without them. They helped him through everything, they were his support system through the years._

_And his parents gave him everything they could, even their own lives. They went down fighting, glaring death in the face and defying Voldemort so that he could live. There wasn't anything more powerful that someone could give someone else than a life for another life. And his parents weren't the only ones. Sirius, Remus, Tonks and thousands of others all gave their lives so that Harry, Teddy and the rest could have a future. They gave their lives out of love._

Mr. Malfoy had ended up being put in Askaban for the rest of his life, but without the dementors it had a different effect than when Sirius had been in there.

Meanwhile, professors were busy repairing the school. Normally they would have had greater ministry assistance, but all their manpower was put into catching dark wizards. Members of the Order assisted in both, switching back and forth and Harry had never seen McGonagall more stressed. It was worse than when the war was going on. She had always been able to keep her composure, but she was being stretched too far.

It wasn't until Molly Weasley stepped in and told her to focus on the rebuilding of the school, that she seemed to return to normal. All members of the Order assured her that she didn't need to be involved in catching Death Eaters, her presence at Hogwarts was enough. The rebuilding of Hogwarts went smoothly after that. It was decided Hogwarts would be opened a few weeks earlier, in the middle of August to accommodate for time lost the year before.

Hermione, Harry and Ron decided not to return to school. Their presence was needed. Hermione of course couldn't accept not finishing her NEWTs, so she took classes on the side, getting assistance from professors if she needed it, not that she ever did. She didn't even need to finish her NEWTs, and neither did Ron and Harry. Any program, any occupation was open to them after the war, even without the required schooling.

This wasn't a problem for Harry and Ron who chose to become aurors. To them, there was no better choice. They signed up for auror schooling, which took place at a ministry location separate from the main location. All their classmates were older than them. Harry and Ron even vaguely recognized a few of them from their Hogwarts years. But all of them were still young, eager and clueless about the world.

Harry found he could be short tempered easily with any of them in class when they said something ignorant. He tried to explain in a way that they would understand, but they didn't seem to listen. When they looked at him, they saw the scar, the famous face. They heard the name and instantly connected it with fame and the defeat of Voldemort. But they all seemed to forget that with that fame and defeat of Voldemort came experience in war and death. When he spoke of things he experienced, when he answered questions in class, describing things the way he viewed them, they scoffed at him if his opinions differed from what the textbooks taught. But Harry didn't give in. The textbooks were giving rational, thought out answers and explanations and he knew that if they wanted to enter into this occupation they would have to understand war had nothing to do with the rational and well thought out.

It wasn't until they started dueling and getting on the field experience did they begin to understand what Harry was saying. The first time any recognition went to Harry that he deserved was after Harry dueled a few of them at the same time and quickly overpowered them in a few minutes. Once they experienced real life field training they began to understand even more. War was bloody and messy and it didn't matter how smart you were, a duel didn't depend on that.

Hermione would pop in for random classes with Harry and Ron when the class seemed interesting. She was always welcomed. The three all wanted to help round up the other Death Eaters and knew that this time, unlike during their years at Hogwarts, they would have to work in bigger teams and with people they didn't know who didn't always belong to the Order. Hermione attended classes to learn the workings of the auror system, so she wouldn't clash with people when she joined them. But all three of them had trouble adjusting to certain aspects of the teamwork that was so important to auror work.

They were used to working together, making their own decisions. Or working with just members of the Order. These were people they knew really well, people they loved. And the Order understood there was some things that just Harry or the three of them had to do without the others. But being aurors would mean following someone else's ordes, someone who may not know the skills and abilities of the three of them. And he didn't want to be paired up with a different partner, he worked well with Ron and Hermione. Harry was so used to working alone, it was hard adjusting.

But eventually they all did. They lucked out and Shacklebolt made sure Ron and Harry were working together. Some of the ministry wasn't too happy that Hermione could just join in on any auror class she wanted to, but they all seemed to understand at the first time. Usually, auror training students didn't go out into the field the first few years, but Harry was adamant that the three of them weren't left out.

The other students were never pleased at how they would miss class quite often, but Harry figured that was their problem.

He was much happier out in the field than in the classroom. Since Harry wasn't a full fledged auror yet, he worked under the Order. The Order by this time was working with the ministry, what with Kingsley as the minister but they still worked alone.

It was a painful process. They were still all trying to recover from the losses that had occurred. But they knew they couldn't stop. If they waited too long, the Death Eaters would be well hidden and it would be much harder to find them.

They eventually fell into a rhythm. And soon enough Ginny and Luna had finished school at Hogwarts and along with Neville, the six of them moved in together. Luna and Neville tried out a relationship for a while, but it didn't work out in the end. They were still friends though, which Harry was relieved about.

And now he was here, and they would all eventually join him. But for now, he was just trying to enjoy the time he got to spend getting to know his parents alone.

Lily didn't see Alice until after lunch again when they had charms together. But it wasn't really a good time to talk together, so Lily had to wait to see what Alice thought of the book until dinner. And Lily could tell Alice wanted to talk to her about it, she looked like she was ready to burst.

When class was finally over Lily looked at Alice who said, "It all makes sense now."

"What does?"

Alice laughed. "Everything."

Lily was getting frustrated as Alice wasn't explaining herself very well.

"Would you care to explain yourself anymore?" Alice smirked at Lily before shrugging.

"Not really. Now you get to see what it feels like to not know what's going on for once."

"You're aggravating you know that? Besides, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to show you the book."

Alice stopped and turned to Lily. "But Sirius and Remus are allowed to know. How does that work out Lily?"

Lily was feeling overwhelmed. Alice did have a point there. She should have just told Alice the truth from the beginning. It didn't make sense for James' friends to know, but not her own. Even though Harry did seem to recognize and know the two of them really well.

They walked to the Great Hall in silence before sitting down when Alice turned to Lily. "The past few encounters with James have made sense Lily. His insistance that you're going to get married, you comments about a book… It just all makes so much more sense now."

"Well thank you for explaining yourself better Alice," Lily said, a little sarcastically.

"No problem. Oh, and I agree with you. Just because a book says so, it doesn't mean you're in love with James."

"Thank you Alice, I've been waiting for someone to say that."

"Yet, Lily. You'll love him eventually." Lily looked to Alice before nodding her head.

"I know."

"And that doesn't bother you at all Lily?" Lily could see how shocked Alice was by this news.

She shrugged. "I guess we will just have to find out, won't we?"


	10. Author's Note

Hey guys! I know you don't want an author's note, but that's what you're getting. So sorry about that. First off, I am not abandoning this story. I know it has been years since my last update, but I am still working on it. Second, looking back on what I've written, I have decided that I need to update everything. The writing is terrible, I have trouble remembering what I have written, and all the chapters just really need to be updated. So… before I continue on, I will be changing what is already written. As a side note, I am contemplating whether I should bring the characters from the future (such as Harry, Hermione, Ron, ect) into the story to read with everyone else. If you have an opinion, please let me know! Otherwise I hope you aren't too disappointed, and I am hoping to get this done as soon as possible.


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